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ASTRONOMY: 



OR 



THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD 



DISPLAYED 



IN HIS WORKS. 



BY REV. CYRUS MANN, 

Author of a History of the Temperance Reform, 

Mrs. Mien's Memoir, fyc. 



Remember that thou magnify bis work which men be- 
hold. Every man may see it, man may behold it afar 
off — Job, xxxvi : 24, 25., 



Written for the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, 
and Revised bv the Committee of Publication. 



: 

BOSTON: 

MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

Depository, No. 25, Cornbill. 



Uttteretf according to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, 
by Christopher C. Dean, in the Clerk's Office 
of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



■ztt-t 






CHAPTER I, 



Creation. 



Much has been written for the instruction 
of the young, and upon a great variety of 
subjects. Almost every department of lit- 
erature and science has been made to con- 
tribute its share to enrich and elevate the 
youthful mind. History, biography, and fic- 
tion — sermons, lectures, and anecdotes, have 
all opened their treasure for the benefit of 
the rising generation. I know not that any 
have attempted to lead the young into that 
grand and sublime field of knowledge, pre- 
sented in astronomy, for the purpose of rais- 
ing their thoughts to God, and producing 
1* 



() THE C R EATl N . 

sentiments and feelings of true piety. It is 
with the desire of doing this, and of con- 
tributing to form early the habit of tracing 
effects to their causes, of looking " from na- 
ture up to nature's God/' that this little work 
is presented to the public. I shall begin 
with the creation, because this affords the 
most wonderful exhibition of the power and 
wisdom of God, and is the first idea which 
enters the mind in contemplating the Crea- 
tor's works. 

If you saw a watch, your first impression 
would be that it was made by some ingen- 
ious artist. Its nicely adjusted wheels, the 
spring w 7 hich set them in motion, and the 
hands moving on its face to point out accu- 
rately the time, would convince you at once 
and without any other argument, that this 
curious machinery could not have formed it- 
self, but must have proceeded from some 
skillful workman. So were you to go into a 
great factory while in operation, and observe 
the movement of all its parts, and the results 
produced in the articles manufactured, you 



T II E C K £ A T I O N . 7 

would be filled with admiration at the opera- 
tions yon witnessed, and the art by which the 
whole was contrived and set in motion. — 
You would have no doubt that some wise 
mechanic had been employed in doing all 
this. 

The world we inhabit is the greatest and 
most glorious machine with which we are 
acquainted. The operations of nature in 
the productions of every field and forest, 
in the changing seasons, in the growth and 
decay of every vegetable, and the adaptation 
of every living thing to the sphere which it 
occupies, proclaim the power and wisdom of 
the great architect. The different tints in 
the rose and the violet, and the admirable 
contrivance with which every plant and seed 
is protected on its stalk, tell us they owe 
their existence to a wise Creator. The plains 
and mountains, the diversified productions 
and minerals of the earth, manifest a divine 
hand by which they were formed. 

The word of God and his works, mutually 
illustrate each other, and neither is to be ful- 



8 THE CREAtl'ON, 

ly understood alone. The scriptures inform 
us that God created all things. Moses gives 
a particular account of this great work in the 
first chapter of the Bible. u In the begin- 
ning ""saith he, " God created the heaven 
and the earth. And the earth was without 
form and void; and darkness was upon the 
face of the deep : and the spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters" This 
was the first step in the wonderful process 
by which the earth became the delightful a- 
bode of man. It was first formed in a cha- 
otic state. The earth was one vast watery 
abyss, in which every thing was in confusion, 
in which were mingled all the substances 
which finally formed its various rocks and 
earths, its trees and plants, and organized 
bodies. The qualities of this early ocean, 
this mighty abyss, must have differed entire- 
ly from every thing which we now behold. 
How long the earth continued in this state, 
we are not informed. Many have suppos- 
ed it was a long period, and the chaotic mass 
underwent various changes previous to its 



THE- CREATION. \) 

being settled into order by the separation of 
parts which were unlike, and the union of 
those which were of a similar nature. But 
though we may not know the length of the 
interval between the creation of matter and 
its organization, we are told of the different 
steps by which the Creator advanced in com- 
pleting his great and glorious work. " And 
God said, Let there be light ; and there 
was light." Nothing can exceed the sub- 
limity and grandeur of this work, nor the ad- 
mirable simplicity with which it is recorded 
by the sacred writer. Fancy to yourself the 
darkest night which you ever witnessed ; 
imagine the thickest gloom spread over all 
the earth, unbroken by the twinkling of a 
single star, or the shining of a lamp from a 
single human habitation. Not a ray of light 
meets the eye, not a single object is visible, 
whether near or remote, except to that Being 
with whom the darkness and the light are 
both alike. Then, instantly, at the com- 
mand of God, behold the light poured a- 
round you ; —it spreads over the globe like 



10 THE CREATION. 

the sun shining in his strength, so that all 
is bright and luminous, where but a mo- 
ment before nothing could be seen. Who, 
that should witness such a scene, would not 
be constrained to acknowledge and adore 
the Creator. What an exhibition of his 
power, beyond all that language can describe. 
The same Being created lights in the firma- 
ment, ' : the sun to rule the day, and the moon 
to rule the night." He made the stars also. 
You could not create so much as a small 
pebble, or the least speck of earth. If you 
think you could, try your skill, and see 
whether you can bring any thing into exist- 
ence, which did not before exist. You may 
alter the form or the mode of being, but 
you cannot create. You may refine the ore 
and produce from it the precious metals — 
but you do not create the gold and silver. 
They existed in the mine before it was ex- 
plored. You may construct houses and 
ships, and manufacture every thing needed 
in the common affairs of life ; but after all, 
you have not given existence to one new 



T H E C R E A T I N . 1 1 

particle of matter. You have only changed 
the form of those things on which you have 
exhausted your ingenuity. How great, then, 
must be the divine Architect, who performed 
the stupendous work of creating all things 
with perfect ease, and in the most simple 
manner. By a w T ord spoken, u the earth 
stood complete ; the work of divine power, 
resulting from divine wisdom and mercy. 
It was made the theatre of his goodness, on 
which he might display it, and communi- 
cate it to his various creatures, who thus 
might rejoice in their existence, and mani- 
fest his praise, by enjoying happiness, and 
rising in perfection through endless ages. 
The earth was designed to be the repository 
of the human race, the seminary of men ; — 
a volume of instruction open to them, in 
which they might read and understand the 
invisible things of God." 

Various accounts of the creation are found 
among the heathen nations, which are inter- 
esting chiefly from their resemblance to the 
sacred record, and the comfirmation they 



12 THE CREATION, 

afford of its truth. A few rays of that di- 
vine light which shown on the true Israel 
of God, were scattered among other nations. 
The revelations made to Adam, Noah, 
Abraham, Moses, and other friends of God, 
were communicated, not only to their fami- 
lies and dependents, but by them were dif- 
fused over the face of the earth. While Mo- 
ses, assisted by the spirit of inspiration, gives 
a correct and consistent account, others, re- 
ceiving their information by report or tra- 
dition, have communicated it mingled with 
various shades of resemblance to the truth. 
Such were the views of the Phenicians, 
Greeks, Romans, and the inhabitants of In- 
dia. According to Sanchoniatho, a Phe- 
nician, who lived about three hundred years 
after Moses, " there w&s a dark chaos, and a 
spirit which, by a certain operation, affected 
the inert mass, and gave birth to creation." 
Anaxagoras was the first among the Greeks 
who taught the agency of an intelligent mind 
in arranging the chaotic materials, in the 
morning of creation. But of all heathen 



THE CREATION. 13 

writers, Ovid most nearly resembles Moses 
in his account of the creation. When we 
consider that this Roman follows the very 
order observed by Moses in the separation 
of the sea from the dry land, the creation of 
the heavenly bodies, of marine animals, and 
lastly, of man, we can scarcely doubt that he 
borrowed his information from the Scrip- 
tures. In the Hindoo writings, many sub- 
lime sentiments are found in agreement with 
the sacred historian of the Bible. They say 
of him who exists from eternity, that " He 
formed the heaven above and the earth be- 
neath : in the midst he placed the subtle 
ether, the eight regions, and the permanent 
receptacle of waters. He framed all crea- 
tures. He gave being to time and the divis- 
ions of time, to the stars also, and the plan- 
ets, to rivers, oceans, and mountains, to lev- 
el plains and uneven vallies. He, whose 
powers are incomprehensible, having crea- 
ted this universe, was again absorbed in the 
Spirit, changing the time of energy for the 
time of repose." All other accounts are mix- 



14 THE CREATION. 

ed with fable, and overhung with a mist of 
impenetrable obscurity. Geologists, too, 
have attempted to show from the structure 
of the earth, the manner of its formation and 
the length of time since its recovery from 
the chaotic state. But it is only in the Bi- 
ble, that we can obtain any clear knowledge 
of the creation of all things. From the pe- 
riod when the elements were separated, and 
the earth w T as prepared for the habitation of 
man, is almost six thousand years. 

But you may, perhaps, ask, why was not 
this theatre of life and enjoyment formed 
sooner ? Why was it not earlier fitted for 
human residence, since the Creator has ex- 
isted from eternity? But supposing the earth 
had been created a million of years, or any 
number of years, sooner than it w T as — could 
not one of its inhabitants, with equal 
reason have made the same inquiry? Be- 
sides, there may have existed other worlds, 
long before this which we inhabit, on which 
the Creator was displaying his attributes and 
diffusing all the varieties of life and enjoyment. 



THE CREATION. 15 

Confining our views to the earth, we may 
see enough to call forth the exclamation of 
the Psalmist, " O Lord, how manifold are 
thy works ; in wisdom hast thou made them 
all." Ci The great divisions of land and wa- 
ter — the continents and oceans into which 
it is distributed : nay, the mountains and 
plains, the lakes and rivers, with which it is 
magnificently adorned — are, severally, suf- 
ficiently wonderful and affecting to fill our 
minds and engross all the power of contem- 
plation. Nor are our thoughts less deeply 
interested by the vast multitude of plants, 
trees, and animals, with which every part of 
the globe is stored at every period of time. 
All these, also, rise and fall in an unin- 
terrupted succession. When one perishes, 
another immediately succeeds. No blank 
is permitted, and no vacuity found; but 
creative energy, always operating, produces 
a continual renovation of that which w T as 
lost." 

Contemplate the creation of animal life. 
How much more wonderful is the skill here 



16 THE CREATION. 

displayed, than in giving existence to mere 
matter. "Even vegetables, of which life is 
predicated in a figurative sense only, derive 
from it a total superiority to all those beings 
which are found in the mineral kingdom. 
Animal life, which is life in its humblest de- 
gree, raises the being in whom it exists, to- 
tally above all those things which are not an- 
imated, by making them, at once, objects on 
which the emotions of the soul may be em- 
ployed, and subjects of pleasure or pain, hap- 
piness or misery. 7 ' "Rational life is an at- 
tribute of importance and distinction far high- 
er still, and is the most wonderful display 
of the divine energy, which the universe 
contains. Indeed, it is in a sense the end 
for which all things else were created, and 
without which there is no probability that 
they would ever have been." The creation 
of man, as though it were the highest and 
noblest act of creative power, w T as reserved 
to the last. It was attended with circum- 
stances, which bespoke its vast importance. 
A spacious mansion had been provided, and 



THE CREATION 17 

now the tenant was to be formed, by whom 
it was to be occupied. Then God held a sol- 
emn consultation on this new and interest- 
ing work, and said, Let us make man in our 
own image, after our likeness. " This 
consultation, holden by the Persons of the 
Godhead, on the subject of communicating 
rational life, plainly and atTectingly declares 
it" to be a greater work "than all those 
which had preceded.'' 

" Magnificent as they had been, one mind 
is a more wonderful, more important, more 
illustrious display of creating power, than 
the whole inanimate universe. Suns, with* 
all their greatness and glory, are still with- 
out life, without consciousness, without en- 
joyments — incapable, in themselves, of ac- 
tion, knowledge, virtue, or voluntary useful- 
ness. A mind, on the contrary, is possessed 
of all those exalted powers, and is capable 
of possessing all these sublime attributes. 
A mind can know, love, and glorify its Cre- 
ator ; can be instamped with his image, and 
adorned with his beauty and loveliness, and 



18 THE CREATION, 

can appear desirable and delightful in his 
eye. It can reflect, as a mirror, the glory 
of the Lord, (for so ought the passage* to be 
translated) and be changed into the same 
image from glory to glory, as by the spirit 
of the Lord. It can love and bless its fellow 
minds, be loved and blessed by them, and 
become an useful and honorable instrument 
of advancing endlessly the universal good of 
the intelligent kingdom. In all these glori- 
ous attainments, it can advance with unceas- 
ing progress, throughout eternity. In this 
progress, it can rise to the hights where an- 
gels now dwell ; and passing these hights, 
can ascend higher and higher, till, in the dis- 
tant ages of endless being, it shall look down 
on the most exalted created excellence which 
now exists, as the mere dawnings of infan- 
tile intelligence. Worlds and suns were 
created for the use of minds ; but minds were 
created for the use of God." 

*2 Cor. 3:18. 



A S T R N M Y. 19 



CHAPTER II. 



History of Astronomy . 

Nothing, except the plan of redemption^ 
is so well calculated to lead the mind up to 
God, as the study of Astronomy. While it 
expands our views over the immensity of the 
Creator's w T orks, it inspires us with continu- 
al admiration of his wisdom, power, and be- 
nevolence. It is fitted alike to secure the 
attention and improve the mind of the young 
and the aged, the peasant and the philoso- 
pher. That a study so delightful and enno- 
bling should ever have been opposed by super- 
stition and ignorance, may seem surprising. 
But such is the fact. The knowledge of As- 
tronomy has advanced to its present degree 
of perfection, by slow, and, at some periods, 
by imperceptible steps. In the early ages 
of society, the heavenly bodies were observ- 
ed from necessity or superstition. The sun 



20 H I S T R Y OF 

and moon were among the first objects of 
idolatrous worship, and regarded as emblems 
of that great Being who made all things. 
The Egyptians and Chaldeans appear to have 
been the first who paid any considerable at- 
tention to the study of Astronomy. They 
made such advances as to discover the caus- 
es of eclipses, and to calculate the time when 
they w r ould happen. From them, Greece de- 
rived the most precious of her intellectual 
treasures, and science w^as diffused over Eu- 
rope. The Persians and Phenicians, also, 
seem to have drawn from those favored king- 
doms a considerable portion of astronomical 
knowledge. While other nations were ap- 
plying astronomy to the purposes of agricul- 
ture and chronology, the Phenicians were 
employing the stars to guide them on the 
trackless ocean, and assist them in those dis- 
tant voyages for which they were distin- 
guished above any other people. 

The Chinese w T ere very early distinguished 
for their knowledge of the heavenly bodies. 
As early as 2752 years before Christ, Fohi, 



ASTRONOMY. 21 

the first Emperor of China, is said to have 
computed astronomical tables, to have given 
the figures of the heavenly bodies, and to 
have instituted sacrifices at the time of the 
solstices. From this period, the science of 
astronomy was held in the highest venera- 
tion by the Chinese for above two thousand 
years, when the progress of knowledge was 
checked by civil commotions, and the spirit 
of discovery seemed to have perished with 
Confucius. About seven hundred and two 
years before Christ, Y-hang seems to have 
made considerable advances in astronomy, 
though he had the mortification to fail in the 
calculation of two eclipses. " They were 
announced with great formality to the em- 
pire, and preparations were made for the 
ceremonious solemnities with which these 
phenomena were usually observed. The 
emperor and his subjects watched in vain for 
the fulfilment of the predictions ; and Y- 
hang had the ingenuity to attribute their 
failure to some unexpected change in the 
motions of the stars." 



go 



HISTORY OF 



The inhabitants of India and Siam suc- 
cessfully prosecuted this interesting study. 

f hales, of Miletus, who flourished 640 
years before Christ, was the first of the 
Greeks, who made any discoveries in as- 
tronomy. This illustrious philosopher, a 
descendant of the Phoenician kings, spent 
the greater part of his life in acquiring knowl- 
edge in Egypt, and when he returned to 
Greece, he established the Ionian school, 
and communicated to his disciples the infor- 
mation he had collected. " He maintained 
that the stars were of the same substance as 
the earth ; that the moon borrowed her 
light from the sun ; that the eclipses of the 
moon were occasioned by her immersion 
into the earth's shadow ; that the earth w 7 as 
round ; that it was divided into five zones 
by the polar circles, the tropics, and the 
equator. He predicted an eclipse of the 
sun, and the fulfilment of this prediction 
raised him to a high place among his 
countrymen, and drew around him a num- 
ber of disciples.' 7 



A S T R N O M Y . '2 : > 

Anaxagoras, of the Ionian school, which 
he caused to be removed to Athens, im- 
proved upon the knowledge of Thales. 
He taught that the moon was a habitable 
world like our globe, and attempted to ex- 
plain the phenomena of the heavens by nat- 
ural causes. But such was the supersti- 
tion of the age in which he lived, that he 
was proscribed as an enemy of the gods, 
and of the established religion. Pericles, 
his friend and disciple, interposed in his be- 
half, but the only mitigation of punishment 
which he could procure, was, that his teach- 
er should be banished instead of being- 
put to death. 

Pythagoras, another disciple of Thales, 
taught the present system of astronomy 590 
years before the Christian era. He was 
compelled by fear of persecution and death 
to deliver his instructions in private. Many 
of his disciples became the victims of a 
wicked and idolatrous superstition, and were 
either banished or suffered death. 

These persecutions were instigated by the 



24 



HISTORY OF 



pagan priests, who kept the people in de- 
grading and gloomy ignorance for many 
centuries. The great truths against which 
their jealousy and hatred were directed, 
were the diurnal and annual motions of the 
earth, and that the sun occupied the centre 
of the planetary system. These truths 
w r ere entirely contrary to common opinion, 
and exceedingly offensive to vulgar preju- 
dice. Philolaus, a disciple of Pythagoras, 
ventured to maintain them publicly about 
450 years before Christ, but was obliged to 
fly from Italy for that protection from popu- 
lar fury, which the law T s of his country de- 
nied him. The vulgar belief that the earth 
was a vast plain, that the heavens formed 
another vast plain stretched out beyond the 
sun, and that hell was another plain beneath 
the earth — this belief was incorporated with 
the superstitious worship of pagan idolatry, 
and interwoven into political institutions. 
To reject it, or attempt to substitute another 
in its place was accounted treason and sac- 
rilege, deserving the severest punishment. 



A 9 T K X M Y. SO 

No wonder that the true system of astrono- 
my was lost amidst the prevalence of such 
notions. It remained in oblivion during the 
long period of the dark ages. The human 
mind, however, continued to struggle for 
light. Ptolemy Philadelphus, an Egyptian 
king, held out splendid encouragements to 
literature and science. " Forgetting the 
cares and the vices of a prince, he encour- 
aged the philosophers of the Alexandrian 
school by his presence and conversation, 
and inspired them with that emulation and 
ambition of excellence, which call into ac- 
tion every exertion of industry, and every 
spring of genius. The possession of a 
crown is a poor inheritance, unless when it 
is subservient to the advancement of the 
human species." To him who views every 
subject in the light of eternity and of his 
accountability to God, every distinction and 
opportunity to do good, if misimproved, will 
appear to be a curse instead of a blessing. 
One hundred and thirty years after 

Christ, Ptolemv, the Egyptian philosopher, 
3 



26 HISTORY OF 

published the system which bears his 
name. The Ptolemaic system supposes the 
earth in the middle of the universe, and 
the centre round which the planets and 
fixed stars revolve, in the following order : 
the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Jupi- 
ter and Saturn. Beyond these were placed 
the fixed stars. The great and essential 
defect of this system, is, that it places the 
earth instead of the sun in the centre ; the 
order of the planets otherwise, is the same 
which is adopted by modern astronomers. 
From this time, the spirit of discovery ap- 
pears to have fled, and the science of as- 
tronomy was completely neglected for many 
centuries. 

It began to be revived by Alphonzo 
of Castile, about thirteen hundred years af- 
ter Christ, but little advance, however was 
made, until the time of Copernicus, a native 
of Poland, in the sixteenth century. This 
distinguished astronomer adopted and de- 
fended the system of Pythagorus as the true 
solar system, and from him it received the 



ASTRONOMY. '27 

name of Copernican system. Its beautiful 
simplicity and the case with which it ac- 
counts for the celestial phenomena, led Co- 
pernicus to say of it, ", The several appear- 
ances of the heavenly bodies will not only 
follow from this hypothesis, but will so 
connect the order of the planets, their orbits, 
magnitudes, and distances, and even the ap- 
parent motion of the fixed stars, that it will 
be impossible to remove one of these bodies 
out of its place without disordering the rest 
and even the whole universe also." He de- 
fended this system against every objection, 
in a work which he was prevented by vul- 
gar prejudices from giving to the world, un- 
til near the close of life. The very day on 
which a complete copy of his work was 
brought him, the rupture of a blood vessel 
terminated his life. How justly is man 
compared to the flower of the field which is 
soon cut down and withered. In the midst 
of the most splendid career of usefulness, 
we may be suddenly cut off by death. But 
that life is sufficiently long, which has been 



28 HIS T ORY F 

given to God, and answered life's great pur- 
pose in a wise preparation for eternity. 

The Copernican system, at this time, 
found but few advocates. It had come for- 
ward in an age of prevailing ignorance and 
superstition, and like a blighted plant, was 
doomed to wither in solitude. Tycho 
Brahe, a nobleman of Denmark, advanced a 
theory which was more in accordance with 
popular prejudice, and on that account bet- 
ter received. He supposed the sun and 
moon revolved round the earth as their cen- 
tre ; and that Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupi- 
ter and Saturn moved round the Sun, and 
were carried with it about the earth. He 
was succeeded by Kepler, who discovered 
and explained some of the most important 
laws of the solar system, and paved the 
way for the great discoveries of Newton. 
But he was poorly recompensed by the age 
in which he lived, for his services. " While 
magicians and conjurers were rewarded by 
the munificence of kings, Kepler was 
doomed to subsist on a trifling pension, and 



ASTRONOMY. 29 

even this he obtained with difficulty. On 
a journey to Ratisbon, to solicit his arrears, 
this great man, worn out with age and fa- 
tigue, terminated his valuable life." 

In the sixteenth century lived Galileo, a 
a celebrated Italian astronomer. Though 
not the inventor of the telescope, he greatly 
improved that instrument, and first applied 
it to the examination of the heavens. By 
its help, he was enabled to make discoveries 
beyond all who had preceeded him. He 
perceived four satellites revolving round Ju- 
piter, verified the prediction of Copernicus, 
that Venus would exhibit places similar to 
those of the moon, and saw a multitude of 
stars which were beyond the reach of unas- 
sisted vision. He published and defended 
the doctrine of the earth's motion. But the 
Popish inquisition, the pretended guardian 
of the Christian faith, soon denounced and 
persecuted him, and forbid his supporting 
the new system, either in conversation or 
writing. " Galileo was not insensible to the 

enthusiasm which the discovery of truth 
3* 



30 HISTORY OF 

never fails to inspire ; and he burned with 
impatience to throw off the fetters which 
had been imposed on his mind. The hor- 
rors of a prison, and the vengeance of sup- 
erstition entrenched in power, were the suf- 
ferings w 7 hich he had to balance against the 
abhorrence of cherished error, against the 
impatience of a persecuted # spirit/ 5 and the 
hope of being useful to mankind. In this 
situation, he resolved neither to shrink from 
his convictions, nor yet openly to avow 
them. He published a dialogue in which 
one of the speakers with great force of rea- 
soning supports the true system, while the 
others argue against it. This roused the 
hostility of the inquisition, and Galileo was 
compelled to "disclaim belief in a system to 
which he had devoted his days, and which 
had filled his soul with the most elevated 
conceptions of nature and its divine Au- 
thor." " What a mortifying picture of hu- 
man infirmity on the one hand, and of atro- 

* Encyclopaedia, 560, 56 L 



A S T R N M S r , o I 

cious presumption on the other ! A ven- 
erable old man turned of seventy, with his 
head silvered over by the study of nature : 
disavowing, against reason and conscience, 
the great truths which he had published to 
the world ; and which shone forth in every 
part of those heavens to which he appealed ! 
An assembly of cardinals, encircling the 
aged philosopher on his knees, fixing the 
laws and arrangements of nature, repress- 
ing the great truths which she unfolds, and 
condemning to perpetual imprisonment, the 
venerable sage, who first disclosed to man 
the unexplored regions of boundless space.' 7 
He was condemned to perpetual imprison- 
ment, for maintaining the motion of the earth 
on its axis, and died soon after at the age of 
eighty-four years. The same system of 
Popish religion which persecuted this ven- 
erable old man, and labored to perpetuate 
the darkness which brooded over the human 
mind, lives in our day, and is making fear- 
ful advances in some parts of our land. Its 
spirit is the same as in past ages. It takes 



3*2 a i s,T ok y of 

away the key of knowledge, prohibits the 
free use of the Scriptures, and endeavors to 
keep the lower classes of society in the most 
profound ignorance. Beware of a belief 
which enchains the mind in bondage, and 
holds it at an awful distance from God and 
saving knowledge of the wav of salvation 
through a Redeemer. 

New T ton lived at a more favorable period 
for improvement, and his comprehensive 
mind and patient research enabled him to 
develope and demonstrate some of the most 
important principles of nature. He appear- 
ed to be raised up, in the providence of God, 
to remove the mists which had obscured the 
human mind and extricate it from the laby- 
rinths of error in which it had long wasted 
its energies. Dr. Herschel followed him in 
his discoveries near the close of the eight- 
eenth century. Aided by the most power- 
ful telescopes, he greatly extended our 
knowledge of the planetary and sidereal 
system. He discovered the planet which 
bears his name, together with its satellites. 



A S T R U N M Y . 33 

and exhibited views of the construction of 
the heavens equally sublime, and fitted to 
fill us with adoring conceptions of their 
great and wise Author. 

From this imperfect sketch of the history 
of astronomy, we learn that true religion is 
favorable to the progress of knowledge. It 
fits the mind for the successful prosecution 
of study, and by producing distinct views of 
God and divine truth, it creates a desire for 
clear views upon all other subjects. Super- 
stition and false religion have ever spread 
darkness over the human intellect, and pre- 
vented advancement even in human science. 
Does any youth thirst for knowledge ? Let 
him yield his heart first in supreme love to 
God. Let him embrace Christ and com- 
mence with the fear of the Lord which is 
the beginning of wisdom. He will then 
find an expansion of thought, an elevation 
of mind, a fixedness of purpose, which will 
be the most powerful helps to advancing in 
every other useful attainment. What is the 
cause of the general diffusion of knowledge 



34 HISTORY OF 

over our happy land ? It has its origin in 
the piety of our ancestors, in the enlarged 
and benevolent views with which their piety 
had inspired them, and the consequent ef- 
forts which it produced to establish institu- 
tions of learning adapted to all the people. 

How highly favored are we who live in 
this enlightened age. Through what strug- 
gles have science and religion had to pass 
in every stage of their advancement. The 
clouds and mists of error for ages hung over 
the human mind. At some periods they 
seemed to retire before the efforts of patient 
investigation, and a brighter day appeared 
to dawn. Suddenly the light was again 
obscured, and darkness reigned with deep- 
est gloom. But truth is mighty and must 
prevail. The day opened with splendor and 
brilliancy which ignorance and superstition 
could no longer withstand. We enjoy its 
cheering beams. We reap the rich harvest 
of knowledge which it has cost the mighty 
efforts of all past generations to cultivate 
and bring to maturity. What thanks do we 



ASTRONOMY. 35 

owe to God for the privilege of living in a 
period like this. How much more highly 
are we favored than any generation which 
has gone before us. How powerfully are 
we obligated to do more for God, more for 
the promotion of piety, and the dissemina- 
tion of the glorious gospel of Christ, than 
any other people. To whom much is given, 
of him shall much be required. Let the 
young realize their responsibility, and begin 
early to prepare themselves for the discharge 
of their obligations. Let them improve the 
invaluable legacy which has come down to 
them from past ages by making vigorous ef- 
forts to acquire knowledge. " Wisdom is 
the principal thing, therefore, get wisdom. 
Exalt her and she shall promote thee, she 
shall bring thee to honor when thou dost 
embrace her/' " I will honor them that 
honor me," saith the Lord, "and they that 
despise me shall be lightly esteemed." 



36 T H E S O L A R S V S T E M 



CHAPTER III. 



The Solar System. 

To consider this earth as the only world 
which the Creator has made for the abode 
of rational beings, is to entertain a most di- 
minutive and inadequate idea of his works. 
He has created not one world merely, but 
many worlds united in the same system, and 
move round the same centre. To us, this 
earth appears larger than all the celestial 
planets which meet the eye. The sun looks 
like a plate of small magnitude ; the moon 
appears still smaller and less distinguished 
by its dazzling lustre, and the stars seem 
but twinkling points, to adorn and beautify 
the heavens over our heads. As in other 
things, so especially in astronomy, one im- 
portant end of our being is to correct ap- 
pearances and arrive at the knowedge of 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. Oi 

truth. To the child who first begins to 
move his limbs, all objects appear equally 
near, and he will stretch out his little hands 
to embrace what is far beyond his grasp. 
By repeatedly disappointed efforts, he be- 
comes acquainted with distances. ' Thus 
from infancy to manhood, and from man- 
hood to old age, we are ever busy in finding 
some reality to supply the place of those 
false appearances by which w 7 e have before 
been deceived.' 

" Go out with me," said his father San- 
ford, one pleasant evening, to William, a 
lad of fourteen, u and I will instruct you 
respecting the planets of the solar system." 
They walked into an adjoining garden which 
afforded a delightful view of the heavenly 
bodies, when the following conversation 
took place. " What do you mean, father," 
inquired William, i; by the solar system ?" 
'*' I mean," answered Mr. Sanford, " the 
sun, the seven planets, the asteroids, togeth- 
er with their satellites, or attendants, and 



38 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

the comets. The sun is the centre round 
which the others revolve." 

William. You do not suppose the earth 
moves round the sun, do you ? I saw the 
sun rise this morning in the east, and he 
passed along through the heavens, until he 
finally set in the west. I should think the 
sun moved round us. 

Mr. Sanford. It is true, that was the 
appearance of the sun, as it now is of the 
moon which you see just rising above the 
eastern hills. But this appearance was 
owning to the turning of the earth on its axis 
from west to east once every day. Take a 
ball and pass a wire or needle through its cen- 
ter and hold it up to the west side of a light- 
ed candle. Then suppose this Ball to be the 
earth, covered with inhabitants, and the wire 
to be the axis on which it turns daily. Now if 
you turn it gradually from you, the candle 
will appear to those people who come out of 
the shadow into the light, to rise in the east; 
as the ball moves round, the candle will 
come more directly over their heads, and 



THE SOL A R S Y S T E M . 39 

when it goes out of sight it will be seen in 
an opposite direction to that in which it was 
first viewed ; that is, in the west. Let the 
candle represent the sun, and it would ap- 
pear to rise and set, and consequently to 
movj ; it would also be day to all that part 
of the ball which is towards the light. This 
illustrates the succession of day and night. 
It is day to all that half of the earth, which 
has the sun shining upon it, and night to all 
the rest. 

William. I should like to know some- 
thing more about the sun, which seems to 
occupy so important a place. 

Mr. Sanford. The sun is a vast globe ; 
£ the first and greatest object of astronomi- 
cal knowledge, and is alone enough to stamp 
a value on the science to which the study 
of it belongs. 5 

' By his magnetic beam, he gently warms 
The universe, and to each inward part 
With gentle penetration, though unseen, 
Shoots invisible virtue.' 

The diameter of the sun, though he ap~ 



40 THE SOLAR S Y S T E M . 

pears to you so small, is no less than eight 
hundred and ninety thousand miles. The 
sun is one million, four hundred thousand 
times larger than the earth. He is the 
fountain of light and heat to all the planets, 
and far surpasses them all in magnitude. 

William. I can hardly conceive of any 
thing so large. 

Mr. Sanford. Here are two globes or 
balls. The one is almost as high as your 
head, although it lies on the ground ; the 
other I hold in my hand, and it is little lar- 
ger than a pea. These represent the rela- 
tive size of the sun and the earth. One of 
them is twenty-four inches in diameter, and 
the other one-fourth of an inch. You see 
then how small a thing the earth is, when 
compared with the sun. 

William. You said there were several 
planets belonging to the solar system; what 
are their names ? 

Mr. Sanford. They are Mercury, Ve- 
nus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and 
Herschel. Beside these, there are four 



THE SOLAR SYS T EM. 41 

others, called asteroids or minor planets, 
viz: Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta. Mer- 
cury and Venus are nearer the sun than the 
earth, the others are more remote. 

Here Mr. Sanford pointed out the situa- 
tion of some of the planets and constella- 
tions, — the ecliptic or path which the sun 
appears to describe every year in the heav- 
ens, — and the zodiac, extending on each 
side of the ecliptic, so as to include a girdle 
or belt of sixteen degrees in breadth. In 
this space, all the primary planets revolve 
round the sun, except Juno, Pallas, and 
Ceres. The ecliptic, and consequently the 
zodiac, is divided into twelve equal parts, 
called signs, to which have been applied the 
fanciful names, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, 
Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagi- 
tarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces, 
or the Fishes. It is now June, and you 
may see Leo and Virgo in the western part 
of the heavens. Leo is about half way 
between the horizon and the zenith, or the 
point directly over our heads. Virgo is 



42 THE SOL A R S Y S T E M . 

nearly over head. Libra and Scorpio may 
be seen further east. 

There is the north pole star, elevated 
about forty-two degrees above the horizon. 
Some of the constellations around it are 
always visible. Instead of setting, they 
appear to move round the pole star in a cir- 
cle. Jupiter is now the evening star ; it 
has just gone below the horizon. 

William. Will you tell me how large 
the planets are, which you just now men- 
tioned ? 

Mr. Sanford. The diameter of Mercury 
is more than three thousand miles ; that of 
Venus is more than seven thousand ; and 
that of the earth is nearly eight thousand. 
But you will be better able to understand 
their comparative magnitude, and I will di- 
rect your attention to this more particularly. 
The diameter of Mercury, compared to 
that of the sun, is in the same proportion 
as that of a ball one-eighth of an inch to a 
globe of twenty-four inches, — Venus of a 
ball one-fifth of an inch. — Mars one-sixth 



THE SOLAR 5 Y S T £ M . 43 

of an inch, — Jupiter two inches and one- 
half, — Saturn one inch and nine-tenths,- — 
and Herschel one inch and one-tenth. ' The 
earth is computed to be fourteen times as 
large as Mercury ; a very little larger than 
Venus ; three times as large as Mars ; and 
more than a million times as large as Pallas, 
But Jupiter is more than fourteen hundred 
times as large as the earth ; Saturn above a 
thousand times as large ; and Herschel 
eighty times as large. 5 Saturn is also dis- 
tinguished by two rings. The outer one 
does not appear to touch the inner one, nor 
the inner one to touch the planet, there 
being between the ring and the planet about 
30,000 miles. Through a telescope Saturn 
appears as represented in this figure. 




44 THE SOLA K SYSTEM. 

William. Why do the planets appear 
so very small, if they are in reality of such 
vast magnitude ? 

Mr. Sanford. It is owing to their great 
distance. Have you never observed the 
eagle or hawk, or even your kite, ascend so 
high, that they could scarcely be discerned ? 
The monument which you have often ob- 
served on yonder mountain, although it 
appears so small, is in reality higher than 
ordinary houses. All objects appear to di- 
minish in magnitude in proportion to their 
distance from us. At one of the remote 
planets, the earth would scarcely be visible. 
Were the sun placed at the distance of one 
of the fixed stars, he would look no larger 
than they now do. 

William. How far is the earth from the 
sun ? 

Mr. Sanford. It is about ninety-five 
millions of miles. 

William. You said that some of the 
planets were nearer the sun than the earth, 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 45 

and some of them were more remote ; how 
far are they from the sun ? 

Mr. Sanford. Mercury is thirty-seven 
millions of miles ; Venus sixty-eight mil- 
lions ; Mars one hundred and forty-four 
millions ; Juno two hundred fifty-two mil- 
lions ; Jupiter four hundred ninety millions ; 
Saturn nine hundred millions ; and Her- 
schel eighteen hundred millions of miles 
from the sun. 

William. O, I cannot understand such 
great distances. 

Mr. Sanford. True, they are too great 
and overpowering for the mind easily to 
comprehend, and we may adopt an easier 
method of representing them relatively. 
Suppose the space between the earth and 
the sun to be divided into ten parts, then 
Mercury is distant from the sun four of such 
parts, Venus seven, Earth ten, Mars fifteen, 
Jupiter fifty-two, Saturn ninety-five, and 
Herschel one hundred and ninety-five. 

Suppose ' Mercury to be 32 yards from 
the centre of the sun, the proportional dis- 



46 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

tance of Venus would be 60 yards, that of 
the Earth 32 yards, Mars 126 yards, Jupiter 
340 yards, Saturn 788 yards, and Herschel 
1570 yards. In the same proportion, the 
moon would be only seven inches and a 
half from the centre of the earth.' 

A cannon ball discharged from the sun, 
and flying at the rate of 480 miles an hour, 
would be eight years two hundred and 
ninety days in reaching Mercury, sixteen 
years fifty-nine days in reaching Venus, 
twenty-two years two hundred and eleven 
days in coming to the Earth, thirty-four 
years eighty-two days in going to Mars, one 
hundred sixteen years and one hundred six- 
teen days to Jupiter, two hundred thirteen 
years and three hundred twenty-nine days 
to Saturn, and four hundred twenty-seven 
years two hundred ninety days to Herschel. 

William. How vast is the space occu- 
pied by the solar system ! I should not 
think there would be room enough for the 
planets to revolve round the sun at such 
distances. 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 47 

Mr. Sanford. That, my son, is because 
of your imperfect conceptions of boundless 
space. Could you take the wings of the 
morning and fly to the most distant planet, 
you might be no nearer than you now are 
to the boundaries of that universe which 
Jehovah has filled with wonders. The 
same immensity would stretch away before 
you through systems unnumbered, and each 
of them occupying an equal or perhaps 
larger portion of space, than that to which 
we belong. Throughout all this infinity of 
■space, God is every where continually pres- 
ent. He has made, and he preserves in 
existence, all that it contains. He controls 
every movement, even to the fall of a spar- 
row, which takes place throughout this in- 
conceivable extent of his dominions. 

William. Now I see more fully than 
ever, why the fear of God is the beginning 
of wisdom. 

Mr. Sanford. Truly, none can be wise 
who do not possess a filial fear and rever- 
ence for that Almighty Being who holds 



48 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

their life in his hand, who sustains the earth 
on which they live, and the universe with 
which they are surrounded. -'Who shall 
not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, 
O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is 
no want to them that fear him. Fear before 
him, all the earth. Let all the inhabitants 
of the world stand in awe of him.' such 
fear is inculcated in the scriptures, and 
without it there is no true religion. It is 
not the terror and dismay of the slave, but 
the veneration and love of a child for a pa- 
rent on whom he is dependent, and whom 
he dreads to offend. How diminutive a 
creature is man, when viewed in relation to 
the universe of God ! Though regarded as 
an immortal being, capable of endless pro- 
gression in happiness or misery, every indi- 
vidual is of unspeakable importance : yet 
as a part of the great whole, he dwindles 
into insignificance, and may v/ell exclaim 
with the Psalmist, ' When I consider thy 
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon 
and the stars which thou hast ordained ; 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 49 

what is man, that thou art mindful of him ; 
and the son of man, that thou visitest him?' 
That he should be an object of the divine 
care and protection every moment, is indeed 
amazing condescension and kindness. 

William. I hope I am grateful to God 
for every favor he bestows ; but what I wish 
now, is, to inquire more about the planets. 
I have observed, that the moon varies her 
appearance; sometimes looking full or round, 
and at other times showing only a thin edge 
with sharp points ; are any such variations 
seen in any of the other planets ? 

Mr. Sanford. They are in Mercury and 
Venus. These are called inferior planets, 
because they are nearer the sun than the 
earth, and have their orbits within the 
earth's orbit ; these have all the varieties in 
appearance, which the moon has. Like the 
moon, sometimes more and sometimes less 
of their illuminated side will be towards us, 
and as it is the illuminated part only which 
we can see, viewed through a telescope, 
thev will at one time look like a fine thin 



50 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

crescent, as the new moon does, and will 
continue to change, until their whole en- 
lightened side is towards us. At this time, 
they can seldom be seen, being either be- 
hind the sun, or hidden by the splendor of 
its light. 

William. Why do we not see these va- 
riations with the naked eye ? 

Mr. Sanford. Because the stars appear 
so small, and seem like mere points. e Ve- 
nus seen through a telescope, when she is 
the evening star and just above the horizon 
after sunset, discovers nearly her whole disk 
and looks almost round, but small. From 
this time she gradually loses her apparent 
roundness, and looks like the moon in its 
different stages of decrease. When she is at 
her greatest distance from the sun, she is like 
the moon in its first quarter, and decreases 
to a half moon. When she again approaches 
the sun, she appears concave and forms a 
crescent, which diminishes, until she is en- 
tirely hid in the sun's rays, or presents her 
dark side towards us and becomes invisible. 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 51 

Moving on in her orbit, she is next seen in 
the morning just before daybreak, and is 
called the morning star. She now appears 
very beautiful ; just a verge of silver light 
is seen on her edge. From this period, she 
again becomes more and more enlightened. 

TVittiam. If Venus and Mercury shone 
with their own light, as the sun does, would 
they exhibit these changing appearances ? 

Mr. Sanford. They would not. They 
would always appear round as the sun 
does. We have unquestionable proof, 
therefore, that their light is borrowed. The 
beams of Venus are more brilliant and 
sparkling than those of the moon. i The 
difference has been attributed to the sup- 
posed fact, that Venus has an atmosphere 
far more dense than that of the moon. 
This atmosphere is estimated to be fifteen 
miles in height. The solar light and heat 
at the surface of Venus are about twice as 
great as on the earth. 

William. Will you tell me whether any 



52 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

of the other planets have moons, or satel- 
lites attending them like our earth. 

Mr. Sanford. Jupiter has four moons, 
Saturn has seven, and Herschel six, which 
have been discovered. It probably has 
others which have not been seen by reason 
of their great distance ; for as these moons 
appear designed to compensate in a meas- 
ure for the want of light and heat, derived 
directly from the sun, they would increase 
in number, according to the distance of 
their primary from the centre of our system. 

William. But Mars has no moon, and 
that is further from the sun than the earth. 

Mr. Sanford. This deficiency may be 
supplied in regard to that planet, by the 
more dense atmosphere, w T hich, from its 
fiery, red appearance, it seems to have. 
From its redness, Mars received the name 
of the heathen god of war. There is no 
indication of any want of heat at its sur- 
face. 

William. Have astronomers derived any 
benefit from observing the satellites ? 



T HE SOLAR SYSTEM. 53 

Mr. Sanford. They have. These moons 
revolving continually round their primary 
planets, are often eclipsed, as seen from the 
earth, by passing behind the planet to which 
they belong. Astronomers have employed 
these eclipses as so many signals, held out 
by the God of nature to disclose the situa- 
tion of distant worlds. The velocity of 
light has been ascertained by them. ' An 
eclipse of one of the satellites of Jupiter is 
seen to take place sixteen minutes sooner, 
when the earth is in that part of her orbit 
nearest to Jupiter, than it does, when the 
earth is in that part of her orbit most dis- 
tant. It is thus ascertained, that light is 
sixteen minutes in crossing the earth's or- 
bit, and as the sun is near the centre of this 
orbit, it must take about eight minutes for 
the light to come from the sun to us. Hence 
light passes at the velocity of 95 millions of 
miles, our distance from the sun, in about 
eight minutes, which is nearly 200 thousand 
miles in a second.' 

William. Has any resemblance to the 
5* 



54 THE SOLAR SYS T E M . 

earth's surface been discovered in the plan- 
ets ? 

Mr. Sanford. Some have thought, that 
a resemblance was clearly discernable. Mr. 
Shroeter conjectured that he discovered 
high mountains on Mercury. ' He affirmed 
that one of them was more than ten miles 
in flight,' which is much higher than any 
mountain on the earth. Others have been 
able to discover nothing of this, and the 
dazzling light of the planet has been unfa- 
vorable to accurate observations of its sur- 
face. This has not been the case with 
Venus. Dark spots and brilliant shades 
have been noticed on its disk. Mountains 
of great hight have been discovered. ' One 
of them is estimated to be twenty-two miles 
high, at least four times the hight of the 
most elevated mountains on our globe.' 
There can be no reason to doubt, that the 
planets are fitted up by the Creator for 
abodes of animal life, and intelligent beings. 
William. Have they not very different 
degrees of temperature, and are not some 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 55 

of them too hot and others too cold to sup- 
port life ? 

Mr. Sanford. Their temperature is in- 
deed exceedingly different, but God may 
have adapted the beings who inhabit them 
to the places they occupy. The light and 
heat of the sun at Mercury, allowing that 
planet to have an atmosphere like ours, are 
about seven times greater than at the earth 
in the middle of our summer, and this Sir 
Isaac Newton found sufficient to make 
water fly off in steam. Either the atmos- 
phere and the planet must be so formed as 
to prevent this great degree of heat, or the 
inhabitants must have different constitutions 
from ours. Either or both these circumstan- 
ces may be true, and the people there may 
enjoy as many comforts as w 7 e who live on 
the earth. 

William. If the planets are peopled, 
have we any means of ascertaining the size 
of the inhabitants ? 

Mr. Sanford. Not w T ith any certainty. 
I once heard a lecturer on astronomy main- 



50 THE SOLAR SYSTEM, 

tain, that the inhabitants of Mercury were 
of small stature, while those of Jupiter. 
Saturn, and HerscheL were very large. 
He reasoned in this manner : The fewer the 
rays of light shed on a planet, the larger 
must be the eyes of the inhabitants to 
enable them to see distinctly, and the 
greater the quantity of light, the less 
will be their eyes, that they may not be 
pained with receiving too many rays. He 
supposed, likewise, that the stature would 
bear a proportion to the eye. As the light 
is intense at Mercury, the eye would be 
proportionably small, and so also are the 
inhabitants ; and as a very small quantity of 
light falls on Jupiter, and the more remote 
planets, the eye must be larger, and conse- 
quently the people would be of greater size. 
The quantity of light from the sun, fall- 
ing on a planet, diminishes as the square of 
the distance increases. Consequently, our 
quantity of light w r ould be to theirs on Ju- 
piter as the square of 490, to the square of 
95, because they are 490 and we are 95 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 57 

millions of miles from the sun. Hence, he 
supposed, that the following statements 
would give us some true idea of the size of 
Jupiter's inhabitants: As our quantity of 
light is to the size of our eyes, so is the 
quantity of light at Jupiter to the size of 
their eyes, inversely. And, as the size of 
our eyes is to our hight, so is the size of 
their eyes to their hight, directly. The 
light at Jupiter is about one twenty-fifth 
part as much as ours on the earth, allowing 
his atmosphere to be like ours, and his 
moons to afford him as much light as ours 
does us. We have no means of ascertain- 
ing accurately how much they do afford, 
nor how many other sources of light, or 
means of increasing it, the Creator has fur- 
nished to that planet. Neither is it certain, 
that the magnitude of the eye will be in 
proportion to the quantity of light, nor that 
the body will be large or small according to 
the eye. Consequently, all such calculations 
respecting the stature of the inhabitants on 



58 THE SOLAR S Y S T E 31 . 

any of those remote worlds, must be mere 
conjecture. 

The Creator has wisely placed this and 
many other subjects beyond our knowledge, 
to teach us humility. ' We know in part.' 
So it is in regard to many of the truths of 
revelation. Christ, speaking of the purposes 
of God, respecting those whom he had 
chosen to eternal life, says: ' Even* so, Fa- 
ther, for so it seemeth good in thy sight.' 
He did not attempt to explain this mystery 
of love. As we know but little of those dis- 
tant worlds which adorn the heavens, so 
our knowledge of the invisible world of 
spirits is very limited. Christ has brought 
many things to light respecting that world, 
but he has left many more to be learned 
hereafter. He has described the scenes of 
the judgment day, the pearly gates and 
golden streets, and pure inhabitants of the 
New Jerusalem, together with its employ- 
ments and blessedness, and its glorious 
King. He has told us too of the miseries 
of that world, where ; the worm dieth not 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 59 

and the fire is not quenched,' and how we 
may escape the sufferings of the one, and 
reach the joys of the other, by repentance 
towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ, 

CHAPTER IT. 



The Solar System. — Continued. 

William. I suppose it is right to study 
the works of God, and learn what he has 
made us capable of knowing. 

Mr. Sanford. Most certainly. This will 
tend to highten our admiration of his per- 
fections, and bring us to reverence and love 
him. 

But I was going to give you some further 
account of Jupiter, and will now proceed 
with that subject. Jupiter is surrounded 
with belts, which some have thought were 
clouds, floating in his atmosphere ; their 



60 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

perfect regularity, however, being always 
parallel to his equator, indicates that they 
are something more than floating clouds. 
They may be designed by infinite wisdom 
and benevolence to collect and pour light 
and heat upon the planet, and thus admin- 
ister to the comfort of its inhabitants. 

William. I should suppose Saturn and 
Herschel must be very dark and cold plan- 
ets. 

Mr. Sanford. True, they are far remov- 
ed from the sun, and Saturn receives from 
him only one-ninetieth part of the light he 
sheds on us. But this planet is attended 
with a splendid apparatus, designed, doubt- 
less, to make up this deficiency. Viewed 
with a telescope, Saturn appears decorated 
with various belts, interspersed with spots, 
and encompassed with a bright luminous 
double ring, resembling the wooden horizon 
of an artificial globe. The rings and moons 
of Saturn probably are intended to reflect 
upon his surface the solar light, especially 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 61 

upon that part which is turned from the 
sun. 

; There is not, perhaps/ says Dr. Her- 
schel, i another object in the heavens, that 
presents us with such a variety of extraor- 
dinary phenomena, as the planet Saturn ; a 
magnificent globe, encompassed with a stu- 
pendous double ring ; attended by seven 
satellites ; ornamented with equatorial belts ; 
turning upon its axis : mutually eclipsing its 
ring and satellites, and eclipsed by them ; 
and all the parts of this superb apparatus 
occasionally reflecting light to each other.' 
This is far enough from being a dark, 
gloomy planet. It is a splendid globe, thor- 
oughly illuminated, and variegated with the 
most grand and wonderful appearances. 

With respect to Herschel, or Uranus, it 
is indeed at an immense distance from the 
center of our system, being eighteen hun- 
dred millions of miles from the sun, or 
about twice as far as Saturn. If its light 
and heat depend on the sun, they will be 
about three hundred and sixty times less 
6 



62 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

than we enjoy. It is, however, by no means 
certain, that Herschel is so cold as to create 
continual suffering. It would be easy with 
Him who l tempers the wind to the shorn 
lamb,' to adapt the constitution of the in- 
habitants to their climate. Beside this con- 
sideration, ' If the planets are really phos- 
phorescent, as is conjectured ; and if they 
are all furnished with internal native heat, 
which seems highly probable, by these 
means any deficiency of the sun's light can 
be easily supplied, even at Herschel. The 
wisdom and goodness of the Almighty are 
infinite ; and it is presumption in man to 
set bounds to them. It requires no exer- 
tion of credulity to suppose, that this planet 
may be rendered as suitable to intelligent 
creatures as the earth.' 

William. Is the length of the year the 
same at all the planets ? 

Mr. Sanford. It is not. Mercury re- 
volves round the sun in about three months, 
and consequently this is the length of its 
year. To complete its circuit in so short 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 63 

a time, it moves in its orbit more than 
100,000 miles an hour. It was represented 
by Grecian astronomers with wings at its 
head and feet, to denote its velocity, and was 
regarded as the messenger of the gods. 

Venus completes her revolution in about 
seven and a half of our months. She re- 
volves on her axis in a little less than twen- 
ty-four hours ; the length of her day, there- 
fore, is a little less than ours, and she more 
nearly resembles the earth, than any of the 
other planets. The length of a year of 
Mars is 687 of our days, or nearly two of 
our years, and its summer and winter are 
nearly twice as long as ours. A year at 
Jupiter is almost twelve times as long as 
one on the earth, while its days, or the 
length of time in which it turns on its axis, 
is less than ten hours. Saturn's year is still 
longer, amounting to about thirty of ours, 
and its day is little more than ten hours. 
HerschePs year is of great length, being 
about eighty-four of our years, and its day 
is supposed to be about ten or eleven hours. 



64 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

William. You said, Father, that the 
sun is the source of light and heat to the 
other planets ; how does he produce this 
effect? 

Mr. Sanford. Formerly it was thought 
the sun was a globe of fire, and emitted 
rays in every direction, to impart life and 
animation to other worlds. The most gen- 
eral belief now is, that the sun is a solid 
body, surrounded by a luminous atmosphere, 
and that this atmosphere has an invisible 
action upon the atmosphere of other bodies, 
causing light and heat on their surface. 
The action of air upon phosphorus produces 
inflammation, or heat — flint will strike heat 
and fire from steel, and water upon lime 
will occasion a great degree of warmth. 
In a similar manner, the sun by his influ- 
ence, may cause light and heat on the other 
planets, without sending any particles of 
matter to them. The moon occasions the 
tides on the earth's surface, without sending 
off any portion of matter from itself to 
produce these effects, 



T HE SO L A 11 S Y S T E M . 65 

Tlie atmosphere of the sun is estimated 
to be two thousand miles in hight, and 
eighty times more dense than that in which 
we live on the earth. 

William. I should like to know what 
reason there is to believe that the sun has 
an atmosphere. 

Mr. Sanford. This is supposed to be 
the case from the dark spots which are often 
seen on his disk. They are sometimes dark- 
er than at others, and appear like a mist, or 
clouds floating in an atmosphere. ' Some 
of the largest of them seem to exceed the 
bulk of the whole earth, and are often seen 
for three months together. They were first 
observed by the celebrated Galileo. One, 
seen by Dr. Herschel, was estimated to be 
more than six times the bulk of our earth, 
being thirty thousand miles in diameter. 
Sometimes forty or fifty spots may be seen 
at the same time, and sometimes only one. 
They are often so large as to be seen with 
the naked eye : this was the case in 1816.' 
6* 



66 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

William. Is it certain what these spots 
are ? 

Mr. Sanford. It is not. £ Some have 
supposed them to be deep cavities in the 
body of the sun ; some have thought them 
to be the smoke of volcanoes, or the scum 
floating upon a huge ocean of fluid matter : 
and others, among whom was Dr. Herschel, 
supposed that the spots are nothing else 
than portions of the opaque body of the 
sun, perhaps high mountains, seen in con- 
sequence of the accidental opening of the 
luminous atmosphere, with which the sun is 
overshadowed.' But the most general opin- 
ion is, that they are clouds. 

William. Does the sun turn round like 
the earth ? 

Mr. Sanford. Yes, it revolves on its 
axis from west to east, once in about twenty- 
five days. This is manifest from the dark 
spots. ' They are seen first on the eastern 
extremity, by degrees they come towards 
the middle, and so pass on till they reach 
the western edge, they then disappear : and 



THE SOLAR S V S T E If . 61 

after they have been hid about the same time 
that they continued visible, they will appear 
again, as at first.' There have been peri- 
ods, when the sun has shone with a more 
dim and obscure light than usual for the 
space of a whole year. This obscurity has 
been supposed to arise from his surface be- 
ing at that time covered with spots. 

From the similarity of the sun to other 
globes, and the indications of mountains, 
valleys, and plains, which have been observ- 
ed, this great centre of our system is sup- 
posed to be inhabited. 

William. Must not its heat be too in- 
tense for the habitation of living beings ? 

Mr, Sanford. Perhaps not ; it may be 
so protected with clouds, or other means, as 
to be an agreeable abode of animal life. 
Some have conjectured that the sun has 
two atmospheres, the inner one serving as 
an awning to screen the inhabitants from 
the too great heat, occasioned by the outer 
one. l Dr. Elliot, an English astronomer, 
supposes it is covered with the most delight- 



68 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

ful rural scenery, purling brooks, meander- 
ing streams, and rolling oceans, and with 
all the vicissitudes of foul and fair weather.' 

William. Has not the sun often been 
used as an emblem of Christ ? 

Mr. Sanford. Yes, Christ is called the 
sun of righteousness, because He is the 
great source of spiritual light and life to the 
souls of men. As the planets would have 
been involved in perpetual darkness without 
the sun, so we should have possessed no 
correct knowledge of God, of his character 
and will, of his laws, purposes and govern- 
ment, without the instructions derived from 
Christ. He is the light of the world, and 
without coming to him and beholding the 
glory of God in the face of Jesus, we shall 
abide in darkness respecting our condition 
and destinies as immortal, accountable be- 
ings. Without the natural sun, there could 
be no vegetation ; neither plant nor any liv- 
ing thing on the earth. Without Christ, 
there would be no spiritual life, no devout 
affection for God ; none would live to his 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 69 

glory, none would be devoted to his service. 
All would remain dead in sin, cold, and un- 
feeling and lifeless, as to any love to their 
Creator, or regard for their owai salvation. 
This has ever been the case in heathen 
lands, and beyond the influence of the gos- 
pel. To denote the happy effects produced 
by the knowledge of Christ, it is said, ' Un- 
to you that fear my name shall the sun of 
righteousness arise with healing in his 
wings.' As the natural sun pours his beams 
upon the forests and fields, upon oceans and 
continents from age to age, and experiences 
no diminution ; so Christ diffuses the light 
of spiritual life around the world, and sheds 
his beams into the minds of the innumera- 
ble company of the redeemed from one 
generation to another, and still remains the 
same inexhaustible fountain of light and 
blessedness, able to satisfy all who come to 
him. To denote the great increase of knowl- 
edge and holiness in the millennium, it is 
said, i The light of the moon shall be as the 
light of the sun, and the light of the sun 



70 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

shall be seven fold, as the light of seven 
days.' On the other hand, ' If our gospel 
be hid, it is hid to them who are lost, in 
whom the god of this world hath blinded 
the minds of them which believe not, lest 
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ 
should shine unto them.' But you may 
now proceed w T ith your inquiries. 

William. Do any other bodies belong 
to the solar system, except those you have 
mentioned ? 

Mr. Sanford. The comets are consider- 
ed as belonging to this system, although 
some of them have their range far beyond 
its known boundary. They differ in many 
respects from the planets, for they move in 
every possible direction, most of them re- 
turn at unknown periods, and they are at- 
tended by a long lucid train or tail, issuing 
from the side of them, which is opposite the 
sun. The further this train extends, the 
broader it becomes, and it sometimes reach- 
es to an immense distance across the heav- 
ens. The comet of 1807 was found to be 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 71 

about 538 miles in diameter ; and its trail 
was more than nine millions of miles in 
length. The trail of the comet of 1811 
was thirty-three millions of miles in length, 
and the comet was about the size of the 
moon. It was 95 millions of miles from 
the sun. and 14*2 millions from the earth. 

TJilliam. I recollect to have heard, that 
many people have been greatly terrified by 
the appearance of comets. 

Mr. Sanford. There is no just occasion 
for this terror. The comets have been re- 
garded by ignorance and superstition as 
omens of war, pestilence, famine, and other 
severe judgments upon men for their sins. 
The one which appeared in 1456 caused 
great alarm. The inhabitants of Europe 
had already been terrified by the victories 
of the Turks, and the appearance of the 
comet rendered their fears intense in the 
extreme. 

Many people still think the visits of these 
strangers are heavenly warnings, presages 
of future events, hung out bv the immedi- 



iZ T H E S O L A R SYSTEM. 

ate hand of God to alarm the world. But 
the Maker of the universe has established 
the most perfect order throughout his do- 
minions. He does not hurl worlds at ran- 
dom to spread confusion and dismay among 
the systems he has made. c Religion glories 
in the test of reason, of knowledge, and of 
true wisdom ; it is every way connected 
with, and is always elucidated by, them. 
From philosophy we may learn, that the 
more the works of the Lord are understood, 
the more he must be adored ; and that his 
immediate agency is more clearly evinced, 
and more fully expressed by their unvaried 
course, than by ten thousand deviations.' 

Since a manifest connexion exists among 
all the works of God, comets may be an 
important link, employed in binding togeth- 
er different systems, and different parts of 
the same system. They may confer impor- 
tant benefits on distant worlds, and be no 
less needful to them, than thunder showers 
are to purify our air and fit it for the sup- 
port of animal life. Sir Isaac Newton says, 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 73 

' I am not without suspicion, that the finest 
part of our atmosphere is derived from the 
trails of comets. 3 He supposes they are 
solid bodies, and not gas as some have 
thought. 

William. Is there no danger from their 
irregularity, that they will strike other bod- 
ies, or turn them out of their course ? 

Mr. SanfGrd. Not the least ; that they 
are very light or rare is evident from their 
exceedingly small attractive force. This is 
evidently a wise contrivance of the Deity 
to prevent their injuring other bodies by 
drawing them out of their orbits, or produc- 
ing too great an influence on them in other 
respects. The comet of 1454, which is 
said to have eclipsed the moon, and must 
have been very near the earth ; likewise the 
one in 1770, which approached near the 
satellites of Jupiter, produced no derange- 
ment. 

La Place calculates they can never come 
near enough to do any harm on the earth, 
and that they need not excite alarm. The 



74 THE SOLAR SH T E M . 

opinion of Mr. Whiston, that the near ap- 
proach of a comet to our earth caused the 
flood, is mere conjecture, wholly without 
foundation. Were comets dangerous bod- 
ies, we may well suppose, they would have 
injured the solar system long before this. 
' Twenty-four of them have been known to 
pass between the sun and the orbit of Mer- 
cury ; thirty-three between the orbits of 
Mercury and Venus ; twenty-one between 
the orbits of Venus and the Earth: fifteen 
between the orbits of the Earth and Mars ; 
three between the orbits of Mars and Ceres ; 
and one between the orbits of Ceres and 
Jupiter.' Though they have passed through 
all parts of the system, and in all directions, 
moving from west to east and from east to 
west, having their orbits confined to no 
particular part of the heavens like the plan- 
ets, yet they have done no mischief, to our 
knowledge. 

William. Is it known what composes 
the trail of the comets ? 

Mr. Sanford. Not certainly ; some have 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 75 

thought it was occasioned by the rays of the 
sun, transmitted through the body of the 
comet, which they believe to be transparent 
like a lens. Others have conjectured, that 
it was the atmosphere of the comet, driven 
behind it by the sun's rays, or that it was 
caused by streams of electric matter. Sir 
Isaac Newton maintained, that it was a thin 
vapor, raised in consequence of the intense 
heat of the sun. He calculated that the 
heat of one of the comets, when nearest 
the sun, must be two thousand times hotter 
than red hot iron, and that its heat might 
be retained a long time. ' Supposing the 
comet to be as large as our earth, and that 
it cooled one hundred times faster than red 
hot iron, he concluded it would take 500 
years to lose the heat it had acquired from 
the sun.' 

William. Will you tell me, how many 
comets belong to our system ? 

Mr. Sanford. The number is not certain- 
ly known. 'More than five hundred have 
been observed since the Christian era ; but 



76 THE SOLAR SYS T I 

of all these, the periodical returns of three 
only have been ascertained. One returns 
at intervals of seventy-five years : one at 
intervals of one hundred and twenty-nine 
years ; and the other at intervals of five 
hundred and seventy-five years. The one 
whose period is seventy-five years is now 
making its appearance again. Their return 
cannot be calculated, however, with perfect 
accuracy, because of the greater or less de- 
lay which may be occasioned by the attrac- 
tion of Saturn, Jupiter and other large 
bodies which they approach on their route. 
' The velocity with which they move is 
variable in every part of their orbit. When 
near the sun, they move with almost incred- 
ible swiftness ; when very remote, their mo- 
tion is proportionably slow. They appear 
to come in a direct line towards the sun, as 
if they were going to fall into that lumina- 
ry ; and after having disappeared for a time, 
in consequence of his brightness, they fly 
off on the other side as v fast as they came, 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 7.7 

continually losing their splendor, until they 
are wholly out of sight.' 

William. Are we to suppose the comets 
are inhabited ? 

Mr. Sanford. They are so peculiar in 
their construction and movements, that we 
can form no rational conclusion respecting 
their being inhabited. Other planets bear 
a strong resemblance to the one on which 
we live, and we conclude they are inhabited 
because ours is. We know the use which 
is made of ours, and we see others moving 
in the same periodical manner, turning on 
their axis, attended with moons, and show- 
ing inequalities on their surface; and w r e 
reasonably conclude they are designed for 
the same use as our earth, and are habitable 
worlds like this. 

*' Who can conceive them 

Unpossessed, 
By living soul, desert and desolate, 
Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute, 
Each orb a gleam of light?" 

But it is not thus with the comets. There 
; 7* 



78 THE SOLAR ^SYST KM. 

is scarcely any analogy between them and 
our earth, and the Creator may have de- 
signed them for other important purposes 
besides the abodes of life. There are burn- 
ing deserts and regions of polar ice on our 
own globe which are uninhabitable, and yet 
they are very important in balancing and 
connecting the world ; and it may be thus 
on a wider scale with the comets. Infinite 
wisdom and Almighty power appear to have 
exerted all their efforts to produce an infi- 
nite and glorious diversity throughout the 
universe. We are astonished w 7 ith the har- 
mony and perfection every where, and filled 
with admiration at the boundless resources 
of the Divine mind. 

William. If comets are not portentous 
of future events, is it not strange, that so 
many should have been terrified by them? 

Mr. Sanford. Men are prone to super- 
stition. Forsaking the true God, and relin- 
quishing just ideas of his government, influ- 
enced, too, by conscious guilt, they have 
given themselves up to the delusions of a 



THE SOLAR 5 Y S T £ M . 79 

vain imagination. Forgetting, that God 
governs all events, the small as well as the 
great, that he wisely conceals from men all 
that is before them in this life, except the 
general intimation, that the good are the 
objects of his favor, and the bad of his dis- 
pleasure; forgetting that no further revela- 
tion is to be expected of the Divine will, 
except w 7 hat is made in the word of God ; 
forgetting all this, multitudes are looking 
for signs and prodigies to disclose to them 
the scenes of futurity. How many will 
tell you it is an unlucky sign to have a tree 
blossom out of season, and so of an almost 
indescribable number of other events. Such 
superstitious notions are altogether criminal. 
They seem to wrest the government from 
the hands of Jehovah, and place it in a 
multitude of petty signs and prodigies. 
They are the remains of heathenism, and 
any regard to them is a species of idolatry, 
exceedingly offensive in the sight of God, 
They are fitted to banish him from the 
minds of men, and give rise to groundless 



80 T HE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

hopes and fears from other objects. Guard 
against them as you value your peace and 
comfort, or the Divine favor. Suffer no 
one to unsettle and corrupt your mind by 
a superstitious regard to signs or prodigies 
of any kind, as though they were supernat- 
ural. God governs the world by establish- 
ed, unvariable laws, and he does not set 
them aside that he may excite the fears or 
hopes of men by good or ill omens. He 
has given them the terrors of his holy law, 
and the awful warnings of the gospel, to 
awaken them to their eternal interests, and 
if these are not sufficient, in vain will they 
look to supernatural appearances for instruc- 
tion. " If they believe not Moses and the 
Prophets, neither will they be persuaded 
though one arose from the dead." Trust in 
the Lord, and lean not to thine own under- 
standing. In all thy ways acknowledge 
him and he shall direct thy paths. Give 
your heart to God, and make him your ref- 
uge and confidence, and " Thou shalt not 
be afraid for the terror by night ; nor for 



THE EARTH. O I 

the arrow that flieth by day ; nor for the 
pestilence that walketh in darkness ; nor for 
the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. 
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and 
see the reward of the wicked." 



CHAPTER V. 



The Earth, 



William was much interested in his fa- 
ther's conversation on Astronomy, and de- 
sirous of improving every opportunity of 
obtaining further information on the subject. 
As they were sitting in the parlor, one day, 
William asked his father to give a more 
particular account of the Earth. 

" This," said Mr. Sanford, "is the most 
interesting of all the planets to us, because 
it is the one on which w T e dwell, and on 



82 THE EARTH. 

which we are forming characters for eterni- 
ty. The period of our continuance here is 
uncertain ; but we know it cannot be long. 
The scenes through which we are now pass- 
ing, will be remembered with joy or grief, 
when time shall be no longer, and the earth 
shall have been consigned to the fires of the 
final conflagration. Our knowledge of the 
other planets can be of no further use, ex- 
cept to ascertain their relation to this, to 
elevate our views of the Creator, and show 
us our connexion with the universe at 
large." 

William. What reason have we, Father, 
to suppose that the earth is round ? 

Mr. Sanford. The figure or shape, was 
one of the first objects of inquiry among 
philosophers and astronomers. They were 
led, at a very early period, to conclude it 
was round like an apple or an orange, and 
this has been proved to be true by facts and 
actual observation. Every body must be a 
globe, which, in all situations, and with a 
light shining upon any side of it, projects a 



T H E E A H T H . 83 

circular shadow. Hold a bowl, in the night, 
between a candle and the wall of the house, 
and if the top or bottom be turned towards 
the candle, it will cast a round shadow up- 
on the wall ; but if one side be towards the 
light, the shadow will be longer in one di- 
rection than the other. Put a ball in the 
same situation and turn it round, and the 
shadow will be circular whatever side be 
turned towards the light. Now the eclipses 
of the moon are always caused by the shad- 
ow of the earth falling upon the moon, and 
this shadow is always circular. It is so, 
whether it be projected towards the east or 
west, or in whatever part the earth may be ? 
of its revolution on its axis. 

You may have another proof, that the 
earth is round, by standing on the sea-shore 
and observing the approach of a vessel. 
The top of the mast will first be seen, ap- 
parently rising out of the water, and as the 
ship comes nearer, more and more of the 
mast will be seen, until, at length, the top 
of the deck will appear and then the whole 



34 THE F. A 11 T H , 

body. ' Were the surface of the sea a plain, 
the body or hull of the ship, being the larg- 
est part of it, would be seen first, and from 
the greatest distance, and the masts would 
not be visible until it came nearer.' The 
same appearance is observed in every part 
of the earth ; we conclude, therefore, that 
the earth must be round. 

The same thing is evident, likewise, from 
the fact, that ships have sailed round the 
earth; have gone to the westward and come 
home to the eastward, or they have kept the 
same course and come into the harbor 
whence they first sailed. Were the earth a 
plain, and were a person to go on in the 
same direction, he would be continually go- 
ing farther from the point where he started. 
The earth, then, is not a plain but a globe. 

'If you travel south, a star to the north 
of you and near the horizon will appear to 
descend, until it has gone entirely out of 
sight below the horizon. At the same time, 
the stars to the south as you proceed in that 
direction, will appear to rise higher and 



THE E A R T H '-. 85 

higher. This proves that the earth is not a 
plain surface, but a curve from north to 
south. By a similar observation, a traveler 
may prove the curvature of the earth in an 
east and west direction.' The mountains 
and valleys which you observe, are no more 
proof that the earth is not round, than the 
small pimples on an orange are a proof that 
it is not round. 

It is to be observed, however, that the 
earth is not a perfect globe, being thirty- 
four miles farther through from east to west, 
than from north to south. This difference 
has been ascribed to the motion of the earth 
on its axis, causing it to swell out at the 
equator and contract about the poles. 

William. Father, what is meant by the 
diurnal motion of the earth ? 

Mr. Sanford. The diurnal motion of 
the earth is that which it has in turning on 
its own axis, or on an imaginary line, pass- 
ing through its centre from north to south. 
This motion causes day and night, and 
marks the hours of labor and rest. It is a 
S 



86 T H E E A It T H . 

wise and benevolent contrivance of the 
Creator to secure the repose needful to re- 
fresh our exhausted natures, and stimulate 
us to the diligent improvement of the day, 
knowing it will be quickly followed by the 
approaching night. By this motion of the 
earth, the inhabitants under the equator, are 
carried nearly one thousand miles an hour, 
while they are carried sixty-eight thousand 
miles an hour, or about 1,100 miles a min- 
ute, by the revolution of the earth round 
the sun. 

William. How can it be, that we are 
moving so rapidly, while the motion is en- 
tirely unperceived ? 

Mr. Sanford. True, we can hardly re- 
alize the progress we are making, and to be 
convinced of it, we must relinquish, for a 
time, the evidence of the external senses, 
To assist your conceptions on this subject, 
let us suppose the case of a man in a ship 
or steam-boat. While he fixes his eye on 
the deck, the mast, or other objects in the 
vessel, he will not perceive its motion, 



T H E EAR T II . 8 i 

tliough it may be very swift. Many per- 
sons have been carried from the land with- 
out perceiving their departure, while they 
were engaged in reading or conversation. 
Every object they see moves with them, and 
retains the same relative situation with re- 
gard to them. Were they to look to the 
shore, houses, trees, and fields would appear 
to run from them, and if they did not know 
to the contrary, they would naturally sup- 
pose this motion was real. In a manner 
similar to this, we are carried along in the 
revolutions of the earth. Every thing 
about us moves, while it preserves the same 
relative position. 

Seat yourself in one of the rail-road cars, 
and while your eye rests only on those who 
are with you in the car, you will scarcely 
be sensible of any motion ; but if you look 
abroad, you will be unable to count the 
trees and other objects as they appear to 
glide by you. The real motion of the car 
is the cause of the apparent motion of 
the other objects. The movement of the 



88 THE EARTH. 

earth is more uniform and even than any 
other with which we are acquainted, and will 
consequently be less perceptible. There are 
no objects with which we can compare it 
except the heavenly bodies. These appear 
to be all in motion. The whole vast con- 
cave sphere over our heads, like one im- 
mense dome, seems to be turned around 
once every twenty-four hours. Every point, 
except the poles, apparently describes a cir- 
cle. Fix your eye on some star net far 
distant from the pole star, and if you could 
see it in the day as well as you can in the 
night, you could trace it round in a com- 
plete circle. To the inhabitants who live 
within the polar circles, where the sun does 
not set for six months in summer, he ap- 
pears to move round without going below r 
the horizon. 

William, O, Father, this would indeed 
be a wonderful sight. I should like to see 
such a day. 

Mr. Sanford. It might gratify your cu- 
riosity, but you must remember, that during 



T n E i: a ii t h . 69 

winter, in those places, the sun continues 
for an equal length of time below the hori- 
zon, and is wholly unseen. What I wish 
you now to observe is, that this apparent 
grand and majestic movement of all the 
heavenly bodies about the earth, is a con- 
vincing proof of its diurnal revolution. 

It is a known law of the universe, that 
small bodies move round those which are 
larger. Either the earth must turn on its 
axis, or bodies immensely larger, and at vast 
and almost inconceivable distances, must all 
be carried round the earth every day with a 
velocity overpowering reason and exceeding 
calculation. This would be inconsistent 
with what we constantly observe in the 
works of the Creator. ' It would be as ab- 
surd for us to contend for the motion of 
the whole heavens round us in twenty-four 
hours, as for the inhabitants of Jupiter to 
insist, that our earth and the whole heavens 
must revolve round the planet they inhabit, 
in ten hours, the length of one of its days, 
rather than acknowledge its diurnal motion, 



90 T H E 'E A II T i 

William* Will you now explain to me 
the annual motion of the earth ? 

^;\ Sanford. This is the motion the 
earth has in its revolution round the sun 
once a year. From this arise ' the useful 
and delightful variety of the seasons, the 
succession of heat and cold, the growth, 
maturity and decay in vegetation, 5 

William. How do we ascertain; that 
the earth moves round the sun ? 

Mr. Sanford. It is proved by observa- 
tion. A motion has been discovered in all 
the fixed stars, which arises from the mo- 
tion of the earth in its orbit. It is also 
more agreeable to reason to suppose, that 
the sun, the source of light and heat to the 
system, is situated near the centre, that its 
influence may be regularly diffused through 
the heavens. 

Considering the sun as the centre of the 
system, we find all the other bodies moving 
round it agreeably to the laws of gravity ; 
but we are unable to account for their move- 
ments upon any other supposition. 



THE E A II T II 



91 



William. Does the earth move round 
the sun in a circle ? 

Mr, Sanford. Not exactly. Its orbit is 
in the form, of an ellipse, or the figure you 
see here. 



© 



The two points within it are called the 
foci. One of these is the situation which 
the sun occupies within the earth's orbit. 

William. Must not the earth, then, be 
nearer the sun one part of the year than 
another ? 

Mr. Sanford. Yes, much nearer, as you 
see by the figure. 

William. I suppose it is our summer, 
when the earth comes nearest the sun. 

Mr. Sanford. That is your mistake. 
The greater heat of summer is not occa- 



92 T!1K [iAilTH, 

sioned by oar approaching the sun, but by 
the greater hight which the sun rises above 
the horizon in summer, and the greater 
length of the days. We are at this season 
furtherest from the sun ; but he comes near- 
ly over our heads and his rays fall almost 
perpendicularly upon us ; whereas, in the 
winter he rises not so high, and his rays, 
falling upon us more obliquely, produce less 
heat. During the long days of summer, 
the air is heated more than it is cooled in 
the night, and the heat will continue to in- 
crease. 

Scarcely any thing exhibits more fully the 
wisdom and benevolence of the Deity, than 
the admirable arrangement which produces 
the constant variation of the seasons. A 
perpetual change is taking place in the de- 
grees of heat and cold, and these, says Lord 
Bacon, c are the very hands of nature, with 
which she chiefly worketh.' By the pro- 
gress of the earth in its orbit, it continually 
presents a different face to the sun, and 



T H E E A. R T H . 93 

never receives his rays two days precisely in 
the same direction. 

Without this variation, some parts of the 
earth would be continually scorched with 
too intense heat, and others would be ever 
enduring all the rigors of perpetual winter. 
The change of seasons, which we now ex- 
perience, is most wisely and skilfully adapt- 
ed to the promotion of happiness, and the 
preservation of animal and vegetable life. 
By it we enjoy the beauties of spring, the 
productions of autumn, and the pleasures 
of perpetual novelty to awaken our admi- 
ration and excite our gratitude to God. To 
the superficial observer, this variety might 
appear to be the result of chance or irregu- 
lar causes ; but it is regulated with the ut- 
most precision by that sovereign wisdom 
which ' weighed the earth as a grain of sand, 
and the sea as a drop of water.' Every 
revolution is performed with perfect regu- 
larity and order, and without the failure of 
a moment for ages and centuries. The 
earth rolls round and brings the rising and 



94 THE E A R T II . 

setting sun at the appointed time, flies in 
its immense orbit, and comes to the same 
point every year without the smallest vari- 
ation. 

Were there no regularity in the move- 
ments of nature — were the earth to stop or 
linger in its course, and ' give to the prince 
of day the appearance of languishing and 
resting himself — were the moon to wander 
from her beaten path; the seasons of the 
year would blend in wild disorder — the 
earth w r ould be defeated of heavenly influ- 
ence — her foliage and her fruits would die 
away — the winds and clouds would become 
instruments of destruction, and one wide 
scene of desolation would spread around 
the world.' 

William. How thankful ought we to be 
for the care which God exercises in regula- 
ting, every moment, the motions of the 
earth, and providing for all our wants. 

Mr. Sanford. Yes, my son, we should 
never forget the blessings he is pouring 
around us in rich profusion. The long and 



T H E E A R T H . 95 

uninterrupted enjoyment of them is apt to 
extinguish in us that gratitude which ought 
to be cherished and invigorated by their 
constancy. The sun Himself shines unno- 
ticed, because he shines every day. Since 
God proclaimed of the lights of the firma- 
ment, " Let them be for signs and for sea- 
sons, for days and years," heaven and earth 
have hearkened to his voice, and their labor 
has been to do his will. The continual re- 
currence of the Divine benefits presents the 
most powerful call to our gratitude and 
praise, and we shall be exceedingly unwor- 
thy and criminal, if we do not remember 
and love the Lord our God. What would 
you think of a child, that had no regard for 
an earthly parent, who w T as constantly watch- 
ing over him, providing for him food and 
clothing, and means of instruction, kindly 
attending him in sickness, and endeavoring 
to make him comfortable at all seasons ? 
Would you not deem such a child very base 
and wicked ? How 7 much more unworthy 



96 



E A R T H . 



and sinful are they who do not love God 
and strive to please and honor him. 

H'illiam. Do not the discoveries of As- 
tronomy contradict some passages of the 
Bible which speak of the motion of the 
sun ? 

Mr. Sanford. Yon refer. I suppose, to 
such expressions as the following : i The 
sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, 
and hasteth to his place where he arose. 7 
' The sun and moon stood still in their hab- 
itation ; at the light of thine arrows they 
went, and at the shining of thy glittering 
spear. 7 ' In them hath he set a tabernacle 
for the sun, which is as a bridegroom com- 
ing out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a 
strong man to run a race.' These and sim- 
ilar texts were not designed to teach any 
thing on the subject of Astronomy. They 
are a familiar illustration of some Divine 
truth, and speak of things. as they appear to 
our senses. As they were not intended to 
explain the real movements of the planetary 
system, they are not inconsistent with the 



THE EARTH. 97 

calculations of Astronomy. God has given 
two volumes for our instruction, the volume 
of his word and of his works, and they 
never contradict each other. They often 
serve to explain and enforce the same truths. 
The works and providences of God^ rightly 
interpreted, give e confirmation strong of 
holy writ.' The Bible, indeed, contains 
proofs in itself and the effects it produces, 
of its Divine origin. But we need not re- 
fuse the light thrown on the sacred page 
from the surrounding creation. Such light 
should confirm our faith, and raise higher 
our admiration and love to our Maker and 
Redeemer. " Great and marvelous are thy 
works, Lord God Almighty, just and true 
are thy ways, thou King of Saints." 



98 



THE MOON 



CHAPTER VI. 



The Moon. 



By his good conduct and desire of ac- 
quiring knowledge, William became daily 
more endeared to his parents. Desirous of 
qualifying him for future usefulness, they 
sent him to a literary Institution where he 
might acquire a knowledge of the higher 
branches of science. The Instructor was 
engaged in delivering a course of lectures 
on Astronomy, and nothing could be more 
delightful to William than to attend on these 
exercises. The course was now partly 
through ; but this he had less occasion to 
regret, because of the instructions received 
from his father on the subjects which had 
been discussed. I shall now give the reader 
some account of the lectures which William 
heard. The first was on the Moon, and 
was nearly as follows : 



T H E M O O N . 99 

"I shall address you to-night, my young 
friends," said the Teacher, " on one of the 
most splendid, and to us useful, luminaries in 
the heavens, and one in which we are deep- 
ly interested, because it is the inseparable 
companion of the earth. The Moon is a 
pleasing and welcome object, and its utility, 
in dissipating the darkness of the night, in 
dividing the year into months, in causing 
the tides, and in assisting the traveler, the 
navigator, and the husbandman, has made 
it an object of peculiar attention, and often 
of superstitious reverence or idolatrous wor- 
ship. Among eastern nations, the worship 
of the Moon was more extensive than that 
of the Sun. The Syrians adored the for- 
mer under the name of Astorte, Urania, or 
Ccelestis ; the Arabians as Alilat ; the Egyp- 
tians as Isis ; the Greeks as Diana, Venus, 
Juno, Hecate, Bellona, Minerva, &c. They 
offered several sorts of sacrifices to the 
Moon, as cakes, fruits, and in some places, 
human victims. This was exceedingly 
wicked and offensive in the sight of God. 



100 T H E M O O N . 

Hence Moses bids the Israelites beware, 
when they saw the Sun, the Moon, the 
Stars, and the host of heaven, not to pay 
them any superstitious worship, because 
they were only objects appointed for the 
benefit of all nations, by the Creator. Job, 
also, when he would vindicate his conduct 
to his friends, protests that he had not been 
guilty of the idolatry common around him : 
" If I beheld the Sun when it shined, or the 
Moon walking in brightness, and my heart 
hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth 
hath kissed my hand : This also was iniq- 
uity to be punished by the Judge ; for I 
should have denied the God that is above." 
In the commandments delivered Israel, God 
forbade, in the most solemn manner, the 
worship of any other object, except himself. 
His commandments are still binding upon 
us, my young friends, and we may not idol- 
ize any thing, however pleasing or useful, 
by esteeming and loving it more than God. 

The Hebrews observed the return of the 
new Moon, and made it the season of one 



T H E M O O N . 101 

of their great festivals. She is called the 
queen of night, as the Sun is king of day. 

The Moon appears large to us. because 
she is comparatively near. To a spectator 
in the Sun, she would be scarcely visible 
without the aid of a telescope. Considered 
in relation to other heavenly bodies, she is 
in our immediate neighborhood, and the ob- 
servations we are enabled to make of ob- 
jects on her surface, may assist us in deter- 
mining many things respecting other planets 
far more remote. She is a kind of inter- 
mediate link, or step, by which we may 
advance in our reasonings into other parts 
of the system. 

The Moon is two thousand one hundred 
and eighty miles in diameter, and six thou- 
sand eight hundred and fifty-one miles in 
circumference. Her distance from the cen- 
ter of the earth is two hundred forty thou- 
sand miles, and from the sun ninety-five 
millions of miles. The Moon is an opaque 
body, and gives no light but what she re- 
flects from the sun. She is about one-fifti- 



1.02 T H E M O N . 

eth part as large as the earth, and completes 
her revolutions round the earth in about 
twenty-nine days and a half, at the same 
time she is carried with the earth round the 
sun once a year. 

As the Moon turns on her axis but once, 
while she makes one revolution round the 
earth, and as the sun enlightens, successive- 
ly, every part of her but once during this 
time, the inhabitants have only one day in 
a lunar month, and their night is about two 
weeks. What a blessing is it, that we have 
not such days and nights on the earth ! 
The same side of the Moon is always to- 
wards us, and the long night to those who 
dwell on this side is compensated in some 
degree by the constant reflection of light 
from the earth. To those in the center of 
the half thus enlightened, the earth appears 
as a moon always over their heads, and thir- 
teen times as large to them as the Moon 
does to us. 

As we see only one side of the Moon, we 
are always invisible to the inhabitants on 



T H E U O O N , 1 03 

the opposite side, unless they take a jour- 
ney round to that side which is next to us, 
for which purpose some of them must, travel 
more than fifteen hundred miles. ( Of 
course, 7 as a writer ironically remarks, ' the 
inhabitants of that half are too wise to be- 
lieve travelers who come from the other 
hemisphere, and tell them of a large varie- 
gated ball, always suspended over the heads 
of some, always on the right or left hand of 
others : and if they have as little mental 
light on the dark side of the Moon as we 
had in Europe two hundred and fifty years 
ago, there is a vigorous inquisition armed 
with power sufficient to catch all believers 
in the earth, and make them recant.' As 
the surface of the earth is about thirteen 
times as large as that of the Moon, and its 
diameter about three and six-tenths as large, 
if the pow r er of reflecting light be equal, 
the earth will return about thirteen times 
the quantity of light which it receives, leav- 
ing the lunarians very much in debt to our 
planet. To them the earth appears the 



104 



THE MOON. 



largest globe in the heavens, and as it turns 
on its axis, its islands and continents will 
appear like spots. By these an inhabitant 
of the Moon may learn the earth's diurnal 
motion, and by these he may also measure 
time. He cannot have a better dial or 
clock. We learn, that the Moon receives 
her light from the sun, by the different ap- 
pearances which she assumes. Did she 
shine by her own light, her whole disk would 
be visible, whenever she was above the ho- 
rizon, whereas the whole is sometimes invis- 
ible, and at other times only a bright rim or 
edge is seen. -When the Moon is in that 
part of its orbit between the earth and the 
sun, its enlightened surface is turned from us, 
which renders it invisible. This is the time 
of the new Moon. About four days after 
this disappearance, she is seen in the even- 
ing, a little after sunset, in the form of a fine 
crescent, with the convex side towards the 
sun. Moving eastward every night, in about 
seven days and a half, one-half of her en- 
lightened side is turned towards us and be- 



T H E M O O N , 105 

comes visible, and in less than fifteen days, 
she appears opposite the sun at his setting, 
and is then called full Moon. From this 
time less of her enlightened side is towards 
us, until it has all disappeared, and we again 
have what is called new Moon. She has 
completed her revolution in her orbit, which 
has taken about twenty-nine days and a 
half. 

You have observed when she was three 
or four days old, that the portion of her 
disk not fully enlightened, was faintly dis- 
cernable. The horns of the enlightened 
part appeared to project beyond the old 
Moon, as though they were a part of a 
sphere considerably larger than the shadowy 
form which it embraced. This has been 
sometimes expressively called, i the old 
Moon in the new Moon's arms.' The shad- 
owy form is caused by the reflection of the 
sun's rays from the earth upon the Moon, 
rendering that part which is not enlightened 
by the sun in a small degree visible. 

" The phases which the earth presents to 



1 06 T H E M O O N . 

the Moon, are similar, in appearance, to 
those the Moon presents to the earth, but 
in a different order. Thus when it is new 
Moon at the earth, it is full earth at the 
Moon: and the contrary." 

What a striking emblem of the changes 
of human life is presented in the increase 
and waning of the Moon. " She is ever va- 
rying her appearance. Sometimes she looks 
full upon us, and her visage is all lustre, — 
sometimes she shows only half of her en- 
lightened face, — soon she appears as a radi- 
ant crescent ; in a little time all her bright- 
ness vanishes, and she becomes a beamless 
orb." The scenes of life are ever varying. 
Your measure of enjoyment may seem full, 
and you may be ready to say w T ith Job in his 
prosperity, " I shall never be moved," but 
the days of darkness will soon come, and 
they may be many. We advance from the 
dawn of our being to the fulness of strength, 
to the brightest hopes in the meridian of 
life, and decline rapidly to the evening of 
our days and the night of death. Only one 



T H E M O N . 1 07 

path continues bright, and that is the path 
of the just, which shineth more and more 
until the perfect day. Improve, then, the 
present moments, for they are ever on the 
wing, and once past can never be recalled. 

The church, too, has been metaphorically 
and aptly compared to the Moon, in her 
comeliness and in her usefulness in enlight- 
ening the world, in the changes she has ex- 
perienced by outward prosperity and afflic- 
tion, and in borrowing all her light and 
glory from Jesus, the sun of righteousness. 
How changing has been her militant state 
and condition ; at one time wasted and wan- 
ing with persecutions and false doctrines, 
and at another, ' looking forth as the morn- 
ing, fair as the moon.' Illuminated by the 
beams of the sun of righteousness, she has 
shone upon a dark world, and been the 
great means of communicating the cheering 
light of heaven to men. 

But to return to our subject. I will now 
describe to you the face of the Moon as 
discovered by the telescope. Her face is 



1 08 T Ii E ;.i N . 

always the same, except that sometimes a lit- 
tle more of her western side is visible, some- 
times a little more of her eastern ; there is 
also, at times, a little change on her north- 
ern and southern edges. These changes, 
resembling the slight vibrations of a pendu- 
lum, have been called the Moon's libra- 
tions. 

Her surface appears wonderfully diversi- 
fied. ' Besides the dark spots visible to the 
naked eye, we perceive extensive valleys 
and long ridges of highly elevated moun- 
tains, projecting their shadows on the plains 
below. Single mountains occasionally rise 
to a great height, while hollows, more than 
three miles deep, almost exactly circular are 
excavated in the plains. The margin of 
these circular cavities is often elevated a lit- 
tle above the general level, and a high emi- 
nence rises in the centre of the cavity. 
When the Moon approaches to her opposi- 
tion with the sun, the elevations and de- 
pressions upon her surface, in a great 
measure, disappear, while her disk is marked 



THE MOON. 1 09 

with a number of brilliant points, and per- 
manent radiations.' 7 The reason of this is, 
when she is in this situation her mountains 
rise directly towards us, and towards the 
sun, and consequently make no shadow. 
We see their brilliant tops, and those parts 
of their surface which reflect the strongest 
light, like bright spots. No less than eigh- 
ty-nine lunar spots, supposed to be high 
mountains and rocks, or deep vallies, have 
received particular names, and their latitude 
and longitude have been determined. He- 
velius was the first who produced a map of 
the Moon, in 1645. He, at first, intended 
to name the spots after some of the most 
celebrated Astronomers, but fearing this dis- 
tinction might appear too invidious, he con- 
cluded to call them by the names of some 
of the most noted places on the earth. This 
method of naming the spots was superseded 
by Riccioli, who preferred the first idea of 
Hevelius, and gave the names which have 
descended to us. In this map of our satel- 
lite, forty-seven places are designated. 
10 



THE M O O N 




Telescopic View of the Moon. 

To different places on the Moon, Riccioli 
gave the following names. 

Pythagoras, Heraclides Falsus, 

Endymian, Heraclides Versus. 

Plato, Possidonius, 

Aristotle, Archimedes, 

Hercules, Cleomedes, 

Atlas, Aristarchus, 



T M K M O O N . 



Ill 



Eratosthenes, 

Copernicus. 

Kepler, 

Hevelius, 

Schickardus. 

Tycho, 

PUatus, 

Petavius, 

Fracas torius, 

Bullialdus, 

Gassendus, 

Arzachel, 

Ptolemy, 

Langrenus, 

Grimaldus, 

Sea of Fertility, 



Sea of Serenity, 
Lake of Dreams, 
Lake of Death, 
Sea of Cold, 
Sea of Vapors, 
Bay of Tides, 
Sea of Moisture, 
Sea of Storms, 
Sea of Showers, 
Bay of Rainbows, 
Bay of Dews, 
Land of Hoar Frost, 
Land of Drought, 
Lake of Fogs, 
Land of Hail, 
Apennine Mountains, 
Mount Blanc. 



Sea of Nectar, 
Sea of Tranquility, 

The following description has been given 
of some of these places. Arzachel is a 
beautiful spot, with very irregular margin, 
two central cavities, and a central mountain. 
Chasms and pits on its margin ; chasms 
north of it. Aristarchus is a deep cavity 



118 THE MOON, 

with high rocks, having two cavities east of 
it, and a radiation issuing from its south-east 
margin. It is the most luminous part of 
the full Moon. 

Some Astronomers have maintained, that 
there was no water on the Moon, and that 
none of those atmospherical appearances 
which arise from the existence of water on 
our globe, will take place in the lunar world. 
But this theory appears not to be well sub- 
stantiated. Sufficient discoveries have been 
made to authorize the belief, that this sat- 
ellite is a world like that on which we dwell, 
variegated with plains and vallies, hills and 
mountains, and all the diversity of rural 
scenery which decorates the earth. The 
lofty precipices, the craggy, towering rocks, 
and vast hollows, like the empty beds of 
oceans, may exceed any thing of the kind 
seen on earth, and yet there may be a strong 
resemblance between that planet and ours. 
' Her mountainous scenery bears a stronger 
resemblance to the towering sublimity, and 
the terrific rugged ness of Alpine regions. 



T H E M Q O K. I 13 

than to the tamer irregularities of less ele- 
vated countries. Huge masses of rock rise 
at once from the plains, and raise their 
peaked summits to an immense height in 
the air, while projecting crags spring from 
their rugged flanks, and threatening the 
vallies below, seem to bid defiance to the 
laws of gravitation. Around the base of 
these frightful eminences are strewed loose 
and unconnected fragments, which time 
seems to have detached from their parent 
mass ; and when we examine the rents and 
ravines which accompany the overhanging 
cliffs, we expect every moment that they 
are to be torn from their base, and that the 
process of separation which we had only 
contemplated in its effects, is about to be 
exhibited before us in tremendous reality. 
The strata of lunar mountains, called the 
Appenines, which traverse a portion of her 
disk from north-east to south-west, rise with 
a precipitous and craggy front from the 
level of the Mare Imbrium. In some pla- 
ces, their perpendicular elevation is above 
10* 



114 T H E M O O N . 

four miles ; and though they often descend 
much lower, they present an inaccessible 
barrier to the north-east, while on the south- 
west they sink in gentle declivity to the 
plains.' 

Not only are the mountains of the Moon 
more precipitous and lofty than those on 
the Earth ; but her cavities are proportiona- 
bly deep, and of peculiar construction. 
They are of a circular form, and some of 
them are supposed to be nearly four miles 
in depth, and forty miles in diameter. ' A 
high annular ridge generally encircles them ; 
an insulated mountain frequently rises in 
their centre, and sometimes they contain 
smaller cavities of the same nature with 
themselves. These hollows are most nu- 
merous in the south-west part of the Moon ; 
and it is from this cause that that portion of 
her disk is more luminous than any other 
part. The mountainous ridges which encir- 
cle the cavities, reflect the greatest quantity 
of light, and from their lying in every pos- 
sible direction, they appear near the time of 



T 11 E M (J N . II 5 

full Moon, like a number of brilliant radia- 
tions, issuing from the large spot called 
Tycho. ; 

Some have supposed that these deep 
cavities and great irregularities of surface 
are of volcanic origin. Volcanoes doubtless 
exist on this planet ; but that they should 
prevail around the foot of mountains, throw- 
ing out the substance at immense distances 
and depths, while the mountain itself stands 
in the centre unmoved, unaffected, like a 
rock in the ocean, is contrary to all the facts 
exhibited on our globe. Our volcanoes- 
burst from the summits of high mountains, 
and roll the burning lava down their sides, 
filling the vallies and spreading desolation 
in their progress. The deep cavities of the 
Moon are doubtless owing to other causes, 
or they may have been formed much in their 
present state at the creation, for wise and 
benevolent purposes. 

Volcanic appearances have been observed 
by many different persons, but none have 
described them in so definite and interesting 



i 1 6 T HE MOON. 

a manner as Dr. Herschel. On one occa- 
sion he says, " I perceive three volcanoes in 
different places of the dark part of the new 
Moon. Two of them are either already 
nearly extinct, or otherwise in a state of 
going to break out ; which, perhaps, may 
be decided next lunation. The third shows 
an actual eruption of fire, or luminous mat- 
ter." The next evening he writes, (i The 
volcano burns with greater . violence than 
last night. I believe its diameter cannot be 
less than three miles, by comparing it with 
the Georgian planet : as Jupiter was near 
at hand, I turned the telescope to his third 
satellite, and estimated the diameter of the 
burning part of the volcano to be equal to 
at least twice that of the satellite. Hence 
we may compute that the shining or burn- 
ing matter must be above three miles in di- 
ameter. It is of an irregular round figure, 
and very sharply defined on the edges. The 
other two volcanoes are much further to- 
wards the centre of the Moon, and resem- 
ble large, pretty faint nebulae, that are 



THE MOON. 117 

gradually much brighter in the middle ; but 
no well-defined luminous spot can be dis- 
cerned in them. These three spots are 
plainly to be distinguished from the rest of 
the marks upon the Moon ; for the reflec- 
tion of the sun's rays from the earth, is, in 
its present situation, sufficiently bright, with 
a ten feet reflector, to show the Moon's 
spots, even the darkest of them ; nor did I 
perceive any similar phenomena last luna- 
tion, though I then viewed the same places 
with the same instrument." 

The existence of an atmosphere on the 
Moon, though denied by some, is rendered 
probable by analogy, and is further confirm- 
ed by observation. Were its hight and 
density proportional to that of the earth, 
only a slight and scarcely discernible change 
would take place in the brilliancy of the 
stars or planets, coming in contact with the 
Moon's limbs. Even this small obscurity 
would be diminished, w 7 ere the limb of the 
Moon formed by mountains, and the denser 
part of her atmosphere below their summits. 



118 T H £ M O O N . 

while the remaining part, which is alone 
visible to us, may not have sufficient densi- 
ty to deaden the light of the emerging or 
immerging star. 

Cassini remarks, ' that he frequently ob- 
served the circular figure of Jupiter, Saturn, 
and the fixed stars, changed into an elipti- 
€al one, when they approached either the 
dark or the enlightened limb of the Moon.' 
But the celebrated Schroeter has completed 
the discovery of the Moon's atmosphere. 
From accurate observations, he has compu- 
ted that the ' inferior or more dense part of 
her atmosphere is about fifteen hundred feet 
high, and that the hight of that part which 
could affect the brightness of a fixed star, 
or inflect the solar rays, does not exceed 
five thousand seven hundred and forty-two 
feet.' 

I have now, my young friends, completed 
my remarks respecting this luminary. Like 
our earth, it seems to be fitted up for the 
abode of intelligent beings. Why should 
God create such a world, bearing so near a 



T II E M ON. 1 ]{} 

resemblance to ours, and regulate all its 
movements with the utmost exactness, un- 
less it be the habitation of intelligences, 
capable of rendering him praise and active 
obedience ? To suppose it formed merely 
to attend on the earth, and throw on it a 
few reflected beams from the sun, would 
seem unworthy of so great and glorious a 
work. The comparatively imperfect bene- 
fits which it thus confers, we should think, 
might be more easily bestowed in some oth- 
er way, or we might have been comfortable 
without them. No adequate reason ap- 
pears, why a world should be adapted to 
sustain life, should enjoy all the variety of 
seasons, and be furnished, apparently, with 
every thing needful, and yet should be suf- 
fered to remain one vast scene of desola- 
tion, one lonely, immense wilderness. But 
what are the capacities of those by whom 
it is peopled ? What rank do they occupy 
in the scale of being ? Do they rise above 
or fall below the human family ? These are 
questions which we are utterly unprepared 



1 *20 T H E M O O N . 

to answer. A great variety of intellect and 
improvement prevails among those who are 
made of one blood to dwell on all the face 
of the earth. The difference is so great, 
that they scarcely appear to belong to the 
same race. How much greater the differ- 
ence between us and the Lunarians, if th ere 
are such beings, we know not. Deity may 
have intended to show the resources of his 
Infinite power and wisdom, by the infinite 
diversity of intelligences who people his 
vast dominions. 

Whether they have apostatized, and been 
redeemed with " blood divine," w T e have no 
means of ascertaining. They may have 
retained their allegiance to Jehovah, and 
continued to live in the smiles of his favor 
and love. Or they may have sinned and 
been left to perish without intimations of 
mercy, and without hope. Or that world 
may have been another theatre on which 
God in his adorable compassion has lavish- 
ed the riches of his grace, as he has on us. 
The sufferings of the Saviour may have 



THE M O S . i 2 I 

been destined to benefit other worlds beside 
that on which we dwell. On them may 
have been exhibited a scene like that on 
Calvary. The sun may there have been 
darkened, and nature convulsed, may have 
borne testimony to the suffering of her 
Lord. It should be enough to awaken our 
unceasing gratitude and love, that sovereign 
mercy has interposed in our behalf, and 
brought life and immortality to light. For 
us. angels are solicitous, the Holy Ghost 
pleads, and God himself waits to be gra- 
cious. If our hearts are not won to Christ, 
if we do not live as ' those who have been 
bought with a price, even the precious blood 
of the Son of God,' our guilt will be great, 
and our ruin inevitable. 



11 



1*2:2 e c l i p s e s 



CHAPTER VJI. 



Eclipses. 

I shall now invite your attention to one 
of the most grand and interesting sights 
ever beheld in the works of the Creator. 
Among many of the ancient nations, an 
eclipse was viewed with no small degree of 
terror and amazement. ' The sudden obscu- 
ration of one of the great lights of heaven 
while pursuing its splendid course, is indeed 
a sublime spectacle, whether we contem- 
plate it merely as it appears to the naked 
eye, or as the effect of rolling worlds, cross- 
ing each other's path in their immense orbits. 
Our admiration can scarcely fail of being 
excited to the highest degree, when we con- 
template the grandeur of such a scene. 
We feel an involuntary solicitude lest the 
vast machinery of nature, which is playing 
through the immensity of space, should be 
deranged in some of its parts, and the whole 
should so to ruin. It is a solemn hour. We 



ECLIPSES. 



123 



stand wrapt in wonder ?nd awe at the vast 
power and skill employed in these move- 
ments ; nor is this feeling wholly dissipated 
by the entire accuracy with which we have 
been enabled to calculate the event. It is 
not strange, that those who have not known 
enough of the laws and motions of the 
heavenly bodies to calculate an eclipse, or 
assign its cause, should be excited and ter- 
rified by such an occurrence, in the highest 
degree. 

' As the moon falls into the shadow 7 of 
the earth, and is deprived of the sun's en- 
livening rays, at the time of her greatest 
brightness, and even appears pale and lan- 
guid before her obscuration, lunar eclipses 
were called hincB lab ores, the struggles or 
labors of the Moon : to relieve her from 
these imagined distresses, superstition adop- 
ted methods as impotent as they were ab- 
surd. When the moon, by passing between 
us and the sun, deprived the earth of his 
light and heat, the sun was thought to turn 
away his face, as if in abhorrence of the 
crimes of mankind, and to threaten perpet- 



1 24 ECLIPSES. 

ual night and destruction to the world.' 
We cannot be too thankful, that we are 
delivered from such ignorance, and permit- 
ted to live in a period of greater light and 
.knowledge. 

Three bodies are necessary in order to an 
eclipse, a luminous body, an opaque body 
which casts a shadow, and the body involv- 
ed in the shadow. The earth is an opaque 
body enlightened by the sun, and it will cast 
a shadow in a direction opposite the sun. 
As the earth is round, its shadow will be so 
likewise, and were the earth of the same 
bigness as the sun, its shadow would extend 
indefinitely, and Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and 
all bodies coming behind the earth, would 
be eclipsed. This never happens ; conse- 
quently the earth is not of the same size 
with the sun. Were it larger than the sun, 
its shadow would continually increase like a 
tunnel, and eclipse the most remote planets 
when the earth comes between them and 
the sun. But the earth never casts a shad- 
ow upon them, and it must therefore be 
smaller than the sun. Its shadow will be 



ECLIPSES 



125 



in the form of a cone, and will come to a 
point at some distance from the earth, but 
not until it has reached far enough to eclipse 
the moon. No eclipse of this luminary can 
happen, except when the earth comes be- 
tween her and the sun, that is, at the time 
of her opposition, or when she is full. 




An Eclipse of the Moon- 



n* 



1 26 ECLIPSES, 

" But the moon is not eclipsed every time 
it is full, or in opposition to the sun. because 
its orbit does not coincide with the plane of 
the earth's orbit, one-half being about five 
degrees and a third above it, and the other 
half as much below it ; and, therefore, un- 
less the full moon happens in or near one 
of the nodes, that is, in or near the points 
in which the orbits intersect each other, it 
will pass above or below the earth's shadow, 
in which case there can be no eclipse. 

" As the shadow of the earth is wider 
than the diameter of the moon, an eclipse 
of the moon sometimes may continue for 
several hours. It is by knowing exactly at 
what distance the moon is from the earth, 
and of course, the width of the earth's 
shadow at that distance, that eclipses are 
calculated with the greatest accuracy, many 
years before they happen. Lunar eclipses 
are visible over every part of the earth that 
has the moon at that time above the hori- 
zon ; and the eclipse appears of the same 



ECLIPSKS- 127 

magnitude to all from the beginning to the 
end/ ' 

i: An eclipse of the moon is partial when 
onlv a part of its disk is within the shadow 
of the earth : it is total, when all its disk 
is within the shadow ; and it is central, 
when the center of the earth's shadow falls 
upon the center of the moon's disk. The 
faint reddish color, which the moon exhib- 
its in the midst of an eclipse, is supposed 
to proceed from the rays of light which are 
refracted by the earth's atmosphere, and fall 
upon the surface of the moon." 

An eclipse of the sun is produced by the 
interposition of the moon between the earth 
and the sun. Eclipses of the sun and 
moon, though called by the same name, are 
very different in the circumstances attend- 
ing them. The sun in reality loses nothing 
of his native lustre in the greatest eclipses. 
His rays continue to be sent forth in all di- 
rections, but some of them are intercepted 
in their way to the earth by the interposi- 
tion of the moon. What is called an eclipse 



128 



ECLIPSES 



of the sun, is in reality an eclipse of the 
earth, which is deprived of the sun's light* 
The moon being much smaller than the 
earth, and far less than the sun, will make 
a shadow which can cover only a small part 
of the earth, never more than a portion of 
it 200 miles in diameter. An eclipse of the 
sun will consequently be visible to only a 
few of the inhabitants ; and it will be total, 
partial, central, or not seen at all, at differ- 
ent places at the same time. To those 
who live within the limits over which the 
moon's shadow passes, the eclipse will be 
total. This appears by the figure, w T hich 
also shows how small a part of the earth the 
dark shadow of the moon covers. 



An Eclipse of the Sun. 




ECLIPSES. 1 29 

The sun can be eclipsed only at or near 
the time of the new moon. The moon is 
then in conjunction with the sun, or in the 
same direction, and intervenes between the 
earth and the sun. At no other period can 
it be seen to pass over the sun's disk, be- 
cause it does not come directly between us 
and that luminary. The moon's orbit does 
not coincide exactly with the ecliptic, or 
the path which the sun appears to describe, 
if it did, there would be an eclipse every 
month. We see here the admirable contriv- 
ance of the Deity to prevent one of the 
great lights which he has appointed for our 
benefit, from being too often obscured. The 
moon's orbit, instead of coinciding with the 
sun's apparent path, crosses it in two oppo- 
site points, called nodes, and it is only in 
these points, that it can come in to intercept 
the rays of the sun, and cause an eclipse. 
In every other part of its orbit, it will ap- 
pear to us above or below the sun. If the 
moon is in one of its nodes, when in con- 
junction, or in other words, if its center 



130 ECLIPSES. 

pass directly over the center of the sun, 
there will be a total eclipse ; but if it passes 
the sun, when at a little distance from its 
node, and within about sixteen degrees of 
it, a partial eclipse will take place. 

An eclipse may be total or annular. It 
is total, when the whole disk of the sun is 
covered ; and annular, when a luminous 
ring only appears around the edge. This 
happens in consequence of the moon being 
smaller than the sun, and when at the great- 
est distance from the earth. As her shadow 
is of a tapering form, it then comes to a 
point, before it reaches us. Were the eye 
of the spectator removed to a greater dis- 
tance, still more of the sun would be visi- 
ble ; and we may suppose the eye so far 
removed, that instead of an eclipse, it would 
only discern a dark spot, passing across the 
sun's disk. 

As the orbit of the moon is an elipse, 
she is sometimes further from the earth 
than at others ; and if the eclipse of the 
sun be central, it will also be annular, " pro- 



E C L I l J S E S . LSI 

vided the distance of the moon from the 
earth at the time of the eclipse be greater 
than the mean distance." 

An annular eclipse was seen in various 
parts of the United States, on the 12th of 
February, 1831, which excited intense in- 
terest. A remarkable eclipse of the sun 
occurred on the 30th of November, 1834, 
partial, but visible throughout New England, 
and total in some parts of Arkansas Terri- 
tory, and of the States of Mississippi, Ala- 
bama, Georgia, and South Carolina ; at Sa- 
vannah and Charleston the sun was entirely 
obscured about a minute and a half. 

A total eclipse of the sun is a most im- 
posing and sublime spectacle. It can 
scarcely be viewed without exciting the 
highest emotions of the spectator. Clavius 
observed one in Portugal in 1650, in which 
the darkness was greater and more sensible 
than that of night. The largest stars made 
their appearance, and the birds were so ter- 
rified, that they fell to the ground. Total 



133 ECLIPSES. 

darkness From .this cause can never last more 
than three or four minutes. 

A great eclipse occurred in New England, 
June 16th, 1806, which the writer remem- 
bers to have delineated in company with 
other members of his class. In some parts 
of the country this was total, in others a 
luminous arc appeared on one edge of the 
sun's disk. The domestic fowls fled hastily 
to their wonted place of rest for the night, 
the beasts and birds' appeared terrified, and 
surrounding creation was shrouded in the 
deepest gloom. Not a few felt constrained 
by the solemnity of the scene to betake 
themselves in prayer to Him by whose per- 
mission the sun shines, and "who shall one 
day pluck him from his sphere." In such 
seasons man feels his impotence, and flies 
to a higher power for protection. That 
prayer, however, which is dictated only by 
some unwonted, alarming appearance, or 
appalling danger, will never find its way to 
God with acceptance. Prayer is the effu- 
sion of a pious heart, of a filial and contrite 



ECLIPSES. 133 

spirit. It is not fitful and irregular in its 
exercises, but habitual and constant. Who- 
ever possesses the spirit of devotion, will 
find it good to draw nigh to God. He will 
love to approach the Father of Spirits daily, 
and open all his heart to Him, with the 
freedom and confidence of a child. Think 
not, my young friends, that attempts to 
pray, while in a panic at the near approach 
of death, or from any cause, will secure to 
you the Divine favor or any blessing. You 
must offer the prayer of faith. " The sacri- 
fices of God are a broken spirit : a broken 
and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not 
despise." 

Some who would discredit the Divine 
authority of the Scriptures have maintained, 
that the extraordinary darkness at the cru- 
cifixion of our Saviour was owing to an 
eclipse. This could by no possibility have 
been the case, for the sun can never be 
eclipsed in a natural way, except at the 
time of the new moon ; and when it is to- 
tally eclipsed, the darkness can never con- 
12 



134 ECLIPSES. 

tinue above four or five minutes. The sa- 
cred historians assure us, that the darkness 
at the crucifixion continued from the sixth 
to the ninth hour ; and to have been caus- 
ed by the moon, her motion must have been 
stopped for three hours in her orbit, and 
the earth's motion on its axis must have 
ceased for the same length of time. Had 
not the power of gravitation been suspend- 
ed during such a period, the moon, without 
a miracle, would have fallen a great distance 
towards the earth. Those who are unwil- 
ling to acknowledge, that the sun was veil- 
ed in darkness by the immediate power of 
God, bearing witness to the divinity of the 
glorious sufferer, are obliged to allow three 
miracles instead of one, to account for this 
extraordinary appearance. In addition to 
all this, the moon was full on the day of 
Christ's crucifixion, and consequently in the 
side of the heavens opposite the sun, when 
no natural or regular eclipse can take place. 
The Israelites reckoned their months by 
the moon, and began their year with the 



ECLIPSES. 135 

month when they were delivered from their 
Egyptian bondage, and this includes a part 
of our March and April. They were strict- 
ly commanded to kill the paschal lamb on 
the evening, or as it is in the Hebrew, be- 
tween the evenings of the fourteenth day 
< f the first month. Josephus says, ,/; The 
passover was kept on the fourteenth day of 
the month Nison, according to the moon, 
when the sun was in Aries."' They began 
each month, on the day when she first be- 
came visible, which could not be in less 
than twenty-four hours after the time of her 
change ; and the moon would be full on the 
fifteenth day, reckoned from the time of 
change. The fourteenth day of the month, 
then, according to the jews, was the day of 
full moon, and the day on which the passo- 
ver was eaten. This also was the day on 
which our Saviour was crucified, for some 
remonstrated against his being crucified on 
the feast-day, lest it should cause uproar 
among the people. Hence no natural 
eclipse of the sun was possible at that time, 



136 ECLIPSES. 

and the darkness must have been altogether 
supernatural. 

Inanimate nature appeared to sympathize 
with her suffering Lord, and put on the ha- 
biliments of mourning. The sun was shroud- 
ed, as though unable or unworthy to look 
upon the amazing scene, when the Son of 
God was offered a sacrifice for the sins of a 
lost world. The glory of this moral Lumi- 
nary was eclipsed on the cross, but it burst 
forth with new lustre when he arose from 
the tomb, and ascended to the right hand 
of the Majesty on high. 

How perfect is the order established by 
the Creator in his works ! The utmost con- 
ceivable exactness is observed by the heav- 
enly bodies in their revolutions, or an eclipse 
could never be calculated with accuracy. 
That the time of its appearance should be 
ascertained to a minute for hundreds of 
years before the occurrence, is indeed sur- 
prising, and fitted to fill us with adoring 
reverence to that God whose hand directs 
the moving worlds. With what admirable 



ECLIPSES. 137 

precision does he roil them on through their 
immense orbits, so that none fail of accom- 
plishing their revolution at the appointed 
time ! 

All the variations which have as yet been 
observed, are periodical. They are parts of 
some great cycle, in which the heavenly 
bodies after a certain period come again in- 
to the same position, and again commence 
the same revolutions. Though each year 
may present different phenomena from the 
former one : yet after a lapse of nineteen 
years, the same appearances occur again, 
and in the same order, on the same month 
and day, with but little variation. Thus 
any one who has a set of almanacs for 
nineteen years, in which all the eclipses 
are noted, will rind them almost sufficiently 
accurate to be used over again, beginning 
with the oldest. So true is it, in this res- 
pect, that there is nothing new under the 
sun. The thing which hath been shall be 
again. How much gratitude do we owe to 
God for this regularity. Did it not prevail, 
12* 



138 ECLIPSES. 

every new appearance would fill us with 
alarm, and we should live in perpetual anx- 
iety and fear. 

How lamentable are the effects of super- 
stition and ignorance. In religion and 
every department of science, they have 
been attended with the most unhappy con- 
sequences. The most distressing and ab- 
surd opinions have been entertained to 
account for the appearances we have been 
contemplating. In an eclipse, many of the 
heathen suppose that a great serpent is de- 
vouring the sun. " The natives of Mexico 
keep fasts during eclipses, imagining the 
moon has been wounded by the sun in a 
quarrel. Other nations have thought, that 
in an eclipse of the sun, that body has 
turned away his face with abhorrence from 
the crimes of mankind ; and, by fasting, 
they think to appease the excited wrath. 
Plutarch mentions, that at Rome it was not 
allowed to talk publicly of any natural 
causes of eclipses, the popular opinion run- 
ning so strongly in favor of their supernat- 



ATTRACTION. 1 39 

ural production, at least those of the moon ; 
for as to those of the sun, the Romans had 
some idea that they were caused by the in- 
terposition of the moon between the sun 
and the earth." 



— eo^— 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Attraction of Gravitation, 

It has already been stated, that the earth 
is round, and revolves rapidly on its axis. 
You have observed, that in turning a globe 
over, all heavy objects fall off as it goes 
round, and even drops of water, which 
kept their place while at the top, fell to the 
ground as they were passing down to the 
lower side. Why then do not all bodies 
fall from the earth as it turns over, or why 
does it not throw them off by its amazing 



! 40 A T T aACTION. 

velocity ? The Creator has kindly and 
wisely contrived a plan to prevent this un- 
happy effect. He has given each portion 
of matter an influence upon every other 
portion, and made each object assist in 
keeping every other in its place. 

You have, perhaps, seen the loadstone 
hold needles and pins, or small pieces of 
iron, so close that they would not fall, what- 
ever way it was turned. In a manner 
somewhat similar to this, the earth attaches 
all bodies to its surface. Throw a stone 
into the air, and it is drawn back by the 
influence of the earth with great violence. 
This influence is cedled the Attraction 
of Gravitation, ."Were it not for this, ev- 
ery thing would be thrown from the earth 
by the rapidity of its motion in its orbit and 
around its axis. The Creator, by endowing 
matter with the power of gravity, has admi- 
rably provided for our security. The ocean 
will not now fall from its bed, though the 
earth continue to roll, nor will any thing be 
disturbed by the amazing swiftness of its 



ATTRACTION. 141 

motion. This attraction or power by which 
bodies are drawn to each other, is in pro- 
portion to the quantity of matter they pos- 
sess. The falling stone attracts the earth 
as much as it is attracted, in proportion to 
its size ; but it is so much smaller, that its 
influence on the earth is not perceived. 
The centre of the earth is the point to 
which all bodies on its surface tend, and it 
is owing to this, that we are enabled to 
stand on our feet in whatever place we are 
situated. 

Could we convey a stone or piece of lead 
down to the centre of the earth, we should 
there find it had no weight, that it was no 
heavier than a feather. The further we 
descended, the lighter would it become, 
until we reached the centre. What weigh- 
ed a pound at the surface, at one thousand 
miles below would weigh only three-fourths 
of a pound, at two thousand miles below 
it would weigh one-half of a pound, at 
three thousand miles below it would weigh 
one-quarter of a pound, and at four thou- 



14*2 ATTRACTION. 

sand miles below, or at the center (the 
earth being about eight thousand miles in 
diameter) it would weigh nothing. The 
further the weight descended, the more of 
earth would there be above to pull it back, 
and when it reached the center, there would 
be as much to pull it in one direction as 
another, and it would move in all directions 
with equal ease. 

In a similar manner, were you to ascend 
into the air with a heavy body in your hand, 
the further you advanced the lighter it would 
become. When you had ascended four 
thousand miles, you would find that what 
weighed a pound on the earth w 7 ould weigh 
only one-fourth of a pound, and when you 
had advanced upward eight thousand miles, 
or three times the distance between the 
center and the surface, it would weigh only 
one-ninth of a pound. The earth would 
lose the power of pulling it back in propor- 
tion as the square of the distance from the 
center of the earth increased. \ At double 
the distance from the center above the sur- 



ATTRACTION, 143 

face, the power of gravitation or the weight 
of any body, would be only one-fourth of 
what it is on the earth, and at four times 
the distance upward, the same power or 
weight would be only one-sixteenth." Pro- 
ceeding on towards the moon, you would 
arrive at the point where the earth's attrac- 
tion would become less than that planet's, 
and the heavy body would fall to the moon. 
This principle of attraction pervades the 
whole material universe. 

" The complicated effects resulting from 
the existence of this principle in nature, 
were first reduced to a system by the cele- 
brated Newton. One day, while sitting 
under an apple-tree, an apple fell on his 
head, and suggested to him a variety of the 
most important reflections. Because there 
was motion, he reasoned there must be 
force to produce it. He was accordingly 
induced, in the first place, to investigate the 
phenomena of falling bodies ; but afterwards 
extended his researches to the heavens, and 
was enabled to comprehend the various 



144 ATTRACTION. 

motions in the solar system, which had 
hitherto been veiled in deep mystery." The 
attraction of gravitation, he saw, was the 
great principle established by the Creator to 
hold the heavenly bodies in their orbits. 

We see this influence operating in pro- 
ducing the curve described by any body 
projected in a horizontal direction. The 
stone you throw from a sling, the ball you 
strike, and that too discharged from a can- 
non, describe a curve. While they are 
driven forward by a force which would carry 
them on in a straight line, they are drawn 
downward by another force which w r ould 
bring them directly to the earth. These 
two forces combined, carry the moving 
body in a curve. The one is called the 
projectile or centrifugal force, because it 
makes an object fly off from some given 
center. The other is called the centripetal 
force, because it makes the object seek or 
go towards the center. Newton thought on 
these two forces combined, until he began 
to perceive their just application to the 



ATTRACTION. 145 

planets. The moon did not come directly 
to the earth to which the attraction of grav- 
itation would draw it, and did not go off in 
a straight line as the projectile force would 
send it ; and the natural conclusion was, 
that these two forces might produce a circu- 
lar motion like that of the moon in its 
orbit. 

The celebrated Astronomer concluded, 
that "were we in possession of an engine of 
sufficient force, a body might be projected 
by it, so as not only to be carried a great 
way without falling to the earth, but so as 
to move round the earth without touching 
it, and after returning to the first place, 
might commence a new revolution with the 
same force which it first received from the 
engine, and after that, a third, and thus re- 
volve perpetually as a moon or satellite 
round the earth. 1 ' 

" If this could be done near the earth's 
surface, it might be done higher in the air, 
or even as high as the moon, could an en- 
gine or something equivalent, be made to 
13 



146 ATTRACTION, 

get at such an elevation. By increasing 
the power applied, a body proportionally 
larger might be thus projected ; and by a 
power sufficiently great, a body not inferior 
to the moon, or even of greater magnitude, 
might be at first, put in motion, and being 
perpetually restrained by its gravity from 
going off in a straight line, might continu- 
ally revolve about the earth. ". Instead of 
being impelled by an engine, Newton con- 
ceived that the planets received their mo- 
tion in the morning of creation by the Al- 
mighty Author of the universe. 

In their revolutions, they are confined to 
their respective centers of gravity with no 
less certainty, than if they were fastened by 
some vast chain or cable proportioned in 
strength to their magnitude. You see a 
little child trying to break away from its 
parent, but unable to get loose, because held 
by the hand. It runs round, endeavoring 
on every side to pull away and go free ; but 
it cannot, for the parent has a strong arm 
and holds it fast. So the moon tries to 



ATTRACTION. 147 

break away from the earth by its centrifugal 
force, and all the planets try to break away 
from the sun ; but they cannot, for attrac- 
tion, like a strong arm, holds them fast. 

Some may wish to inquire, why the moon 
should go round the earth, rather than the 
earth round the moon ? I will tell you : 
the moon is the smallest, and it is more nat- 
ural for a small body to move round a large 
one, than the contrary. Were there a great 
ship in the sea, and a little boat by the side 
of it, would it not be easier to move the 
little boat round the ship, than to move the 
ship round the boat ? Would it not be 
more natural and easy for a kite to sail round 
a house, than to carry the house round the 
kite ? 

It is to be observed, however, that the 
moon does not revolve about the earth as 
the center of its orbit, but about the com- 
mon center of gravity between the earth 
and moon, or about that point where the 
earth and moon would balance were they 
suspended on each end of a rod, like two 



148 ATTRACTION. 

balls. The earth being vastly the largest, 
this point is not far from its surface, and is 
usually spoken of as though it were at its 
center. Neither do the planets revolve 
about the sun as the center of their orbits, 
but about the common center of gravity in 
the solar system, or that point where all the 
planets would exactly balance the sun, were 
they all placed on one end of a rod and the 
sun on the other ; this also would be so near 
the sun's surface, that the sun itself has 
been regarded as the center. 

" We may illustrate this by supposing two 
boats of equal bulk in a river, at twenty 
yards distance from each other, and that a 
man in one boat pulls a rope which is fas- 
tened to the other, the boats will meet in a 
point which is half way between them. 
Were one boat ten or a hundred times the 
bulk of the other, the lighter w T ould be mov- 
ed ten or a hundred times the farthest in 
their approach to each other." So the cen- 
ter, around which a large and small body 
will revolve, will be as many times nearer 



ATTRACTION. 149 

the large one as this contains more matter 
than the small one. Their attraction will 
not be in proportion to their magnitude, 
but in proportion to their quantity of mat- 
ter. A ball of cork, being more porous 
and not containing so much matter as one 
of lead, will not attract so much. " The 
sun, though more than a million times as 
large as the earth, not being so dense and 
compact a body, contains, according to es- 
timation, a quantity of matter only three 
hundred and thirty thousand times as 
great, and hence attracts the earth with a 
force only three hundred and thirty thou- 
sand times more than the earth attracts that 
luminary." 

The power with which the earth attracts 
the moon is greatest, when she is nearest 
the earth, and her motion is then the most 
rapid. The power of the sun's attraction 
on Mercury is greater than that on Venus, 
and it diminishes as the squares of the dis- 
tances of the planets from the sun increase. 
Thus if one planet be twice as far from the 
13* 



150 ATTRACTION. 

sun as another, the power of the sun's at- 
traction upon it will be four times less, and 
if it be four times as far from the sun the 
power of attraction will be sixteen times 
less. The nearer any planet is to the center 
of gravity, the swifter it must move, or it 
will be drawn into that center. Mercury 
moves swifter than Venus, because the sun's 
attraction is stronger upon it than upon Ve- 
nus ; for the same reason Venus moves 
swifter than the earth, so of the other 
planets. 

" It is said, that when Newton was about 
demonstrating that great truth, that gravity 
was the cause which kept the heavenly 
bodies in their orbits, he became so agita- 
ted with the thoughts of the magnitude and 
consequences of his discovery, as to be un- 
able to proceed with his demonstrations, and 
desired a friend to finish what the intensity 
of his feelings would not allow him to com- 
plete." 

This subject may serve to illustrate the 
relation in which all intelligent creatures 



A T TRACTION, 151 

stand to their Maker, and the love and ser- 
vice which they are to render Him. He 
has so ordered, that those things which re- 
late to the obscure and difficult subjects of 
mind and the invisible world, shall have some 
representative in the known and manifest 
operations of the material universe. As at- 
traction is the great principle established by 
the Creator to hold the planets in their or- 
bits ; so it is supreme love to God, which 
binds holy beings to Him, and causes them, 
as it were, to revolve about Him, as the 
center of all their desires and wishes. He 
is the glorious sun and center of the world 
of mind ; the source of light, life and felic- 
ity to intelligent creatures. All the heav- 
enly hosts, angel and arch-angel, cherubim 
and seraphim, and the spirits of just men 
made perfect, are drawn to Him in supreme 
affection, and delight in Him as the highest 
good. To denote the swiftness and alacrity 
with which they obey his commands and do 
his will, it is said, " He maketh his angels 
spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. jr 



I 52 A TT11ACT10N, 

With the rapidity of thought, with glowing 
affection and burning zeal, they wait on 
Him to accomplish his pleasure. Every 
one moves in his own sphere, performing 
every duty with undeviating and unweary- 
ing constancy. The blessed inhabitants of 
heaven have no need of rest. There is no 
night in those celestial mansions, they re- 
quire not the sun nor the moon to illuminate 
them, for they are enlightened with the 
glory of God and the Lamb. All who live 
there are possessed of immortal vigor. 
Their powers never tire, never demand re- 
pose. Like the planets in their orbits, they 
move on in their high and elevated career 
of holy obedience, without stopping or de- 
viating in their course. Theirs is a more 
noble and elevated song than the fabled 
music of the spheres. Their enrapturing 
theme is, " Blessing, and honor, and glory, 
and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon 
the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and 
ever." But hark, another song echoes from 
the heavenly plains : " Worthy is the Lamb 



ATTRACTION. 153 

that was slain to receive power, and riches, 
and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and 
glory, and blessing." No discordant note 
mingles in these celestial strains. All is 
harmony and love. God himself is the su- 
preme object of adoration and praise. Ev- 
ery exalted spirit strives to be near and like 
Him, and to reflect the beams of his glory. 
Those who love God on earth partake of 
the same temper, though in an imperfect 
degree. The glorious loveliness and excel- 
lency of his character have been revealed 
to them by his Spirit, and secured for Him 
their highest and warmest affection. With 
sincerity of heart, they can say with David, 
" Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and 
there is none upon earth that I desire be- 
sides Thee." Their souls are drawn to Him, 
and they desire his glory above every other 
object. To them he is the center of attrac- 
tion. Nothing moves them with so much 
zeal, or inspires them with so much ardor 
as the hope of the Divine favor. They 
have felt the import of the poet's language: 



154 ATTRACTION. 

" My gracious Redeemer I love, 
His praises aloud I'll proclaim ; 
And join with the armies above 
To shout his adorable name. 
To gaze on his glories divine, 
Shall be my eternal employ — 
To feel them incessantly shine, 
My boundless ineffable joy." 

Supreme love to God makes his people 
submissive to his government, and satisfied 
to move in the sphere which he assigns 
them. When this love ceased to actuate a 
portion of the angelic hosts, they revolted 
from their Maker. Like the planet break- 
ing away from its orbit, flying from its cen- 
ter of attraction, and spreading terror and 
misery in its course, the sinning angels 
broke away from their rightful Sovereign, 
forsook their allegiance to the God who 
made them, and began to spread destruc- 
tion among the subjects of his moral gov- 
ernment. They became malignant spirits 
seeking whom they might devour. They 
tempted our first parents to sin against God 
in eating the forbidden fruit, and thus 



ATTRACTION. 1 55 

c< brought death into the world and all our 
woe/' 

Before their transgression, Adam and Eve 
were filled with adoring reverence and love 
to their Creator. It was their delight to 
draw near and hold converse with Him. 
They loved to hear Him speaking with them 
in the garden, and to have the light of his 
countenance shining upon them. After 
their sin, they fled at the voice of the Lord 
God, and sought to hide themselves from 
his presence among the trees of Eden. 
Vain refuge ! Amazing folly ! to think of 
screening themselves from the eye of Om- 
niscience, and from the all-pervading pres- 
ence of their Maker. Such is the folly, the 
ruinous tendency of sin in every age. — 
Though warned that The soul that sinneth 
shall die, and Be sure your sin will find you 
out, the sinner will still delude himself with 
the belief, that the Lord will not see, nor 
regard his iniquity. Have not some of you. 
my young friends, when you have commit- 
ted a wicked act. thought that God would 



155 ATTRACTION. 

not see you ? Have you not wished to es- 
cape from his notice ? Do you find no 
pleasure in drawing nigh to God ? and do 
you prefer vain amusement to devout wor- 
ship ? If this is your case, you have broken 
away from all attachment to your Maker 
and Redeemer. Continuing in impenitence, 
you are daily wandering farther from Him 
who is the light and the life of your spirits ; 
and unless you return speedily, your ruin 
will be inevitable. You will have gone too 
far in sin, and too long have grieved the 
Holy Spirit ever to be reclaimed. God will 
abandon you to yourselves. He will no 
longer strive to draw you back to Him by 
his amiable and glorious character, nor by 
the displays of his goodness. You will be 
like a baleful planet let loose from the sun 
to wander in eternal darkness. Nor will it 
be the whole of your misery to have des- 
troyed yourself. As every object in the 
natural world attracts others, so every indi- 
vidual has an influence upon those around 
him. If you live in sin, your example will 



ATTRACTION. 1 57 

tend to corrupt and ruin all your associates 
and acquaintances. You will be continually 
using an influence to draw them away from 
God, and carry them down to the blackness 
of darkness for ever. How true is it, that 
one sinner destroyeth much good. He is 
hostile to the Divine government. The in- 
fluence which he exerts is destructive to the 
order and happiness of the universe, and 
would put an end to the felicity of Jeho- 
vah's dominions, did He not restrain and 
prevent its effects. Such is the dreadful 
evil of sin. Its tendency is to spread dis- 
order and ruin through the system of intel- 
ligent beings. All sin is the violation of 
that law which requires us to love the Lord 
our God with all our heart, and soul, and 
mind, and strength. As you value your 
own peace and happiness, the enjoyment of 
those who are dear to you, the honor of 
God, or the good of the universe, I beseech 
you, obey immediately that command of 
your Creator, " My son, give me thine 
heart." 

14 



153 A M r L T I T U D E 



CHAPTER IX. 



A Multitude of World*. 

Hitherto I have directed your attention 
principally to the Solar System. Within 
these limits, there is enough to excite our 
admiration and reverence, our gratitude and 
praise to the great Creator. The field is 
almost as much as the human mind can 
grasp, and could we make no further dis- 
coveries, we might justly exclaim, 

" These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, 
Almighty, thine this universal frame, 
Thus wondrous fair ; thyself how wondrous then I 
Unspeakable, who sitst above these heavens, 
To us invisible, or dimly seen 
In these thy lowest works ; yet these declare 
Thy goodness beyond thought, and pow'r divine.' T 

But there are other systems no less spa- 
cious, no less full of the wonders of creative 
power, than the one to which we belong* 



OF WORLDS. 159 

Traveling on in imagination until we suc- 
cessively reach Jupiter, Saturn and Herschel, 
and become weary with this amazing excur- 
sion, we find ourselves arrived only at the 
borders of one little province of Jehovah's 
dominions. We are like the child who, 
having never gone beyond his native village, 
attempts to form some idea of the extent 
of a vast empire with all its magnificent 
cities, its teeming population, and w r ide 
spreading states and territories. He ascends 
some neighboring mountain and surveys the 
adjoining country far as the eye can reach. 
Though his mind is enlarged and enraptur- 
ed at the prospect, his view r s are still cir- 
cumscribed and inadequate. In forming 
our conceptions of the universe, we survey 
the system which comes more immediately 
within our vision, the revolutions of which 
we can accurately calculate, and from this 
we advance from world to world, and sys- 
tem to system, finding no limits to the works 
of the Almighty. When we have advanced 
far as imagination can extend its airy flight. 



160 A MULTITUDE 

we see other worlds rolling in their orbits, 
other spacious systems, wheeling round 
their centers, and other suns lighting up 
their respective firmaments. 

Extend your thoughts ever so far, count 
up ever so many planetary worlds, and you 
may have arrived no nearer the end of this 
splendid and amazing exhibition of the di- 
vine perfections. The same boundless pros- 
pect still opens before you, and could you 
hasten your excursion with the rapidity of 
a ray of morning light, and go on for ages 
and centuries, still you would not have 
passed the boundless territories of the King 
Eternal, you would have come no nearer 
the boundaries of that kingdom over which 
he presides. These are not the deceptive 
visions of fancy, nor the idle vagaries of a 
disordered mind. The clearest discoveries 
authorize us to pronounce them sober facts, 
worthy of our belief and confidence. 

Beside the great number of stars and 
groups of stars, scattered through other parts 
of the sky, there have been almost innumer- 



V W R L D S . 161 

able multitudes discovered in what is com- 
monly called the milky way. This is a 
white luminous zone which nearly encircles 
the heavens. " Dr. Herschel examined this 
interesting part of the sky with very power- 
ful telescopes, and found that its whiteness 
was owing to an immense number of small 
stars. A portion of the milky way, fifteen 
decrees long and two broad, contained no 
fewer than fifty thousand stars, large enough 
to be distinctly counted, and the Doctor 
suspected twice as many more, which, for 
want of sufficient light in his telescope, he 
saw only now and then. The attention of 
the Doctor was next directed to the nebulae, 
or cloudy spots which he found to be com- 
posed of stars, or at least to contain stars, 
and to exhibit every other appearance of 
being entirely composed of them. These 
nebulae were generally arranged in strata, 
and ran on to a great length. One of these 
nebulous strata was so crowded, that in 
passing through a section of it in the time 
of thirty-six minutes, Dr. Herschel discov- 
14* 



1 62 A M U L T I T V i) E 

ered thirty-one nebulse distinctly visible, 
but varying in their shape, situation and 
condition. In another stratum, he saw 
double and treble nebulae variously arrang- 
ed ; some of the large ones were accompa- 
nied with others that were smaller ; some 
of them were long and narrow bright dash- 
es ; others had the shape of a fan, like the 
electric spark, issuing from a lucid point." 

And what are these nebulae, these clusters 
of stars, but system piled on system, until 
they fade away in the distance from our 
view, aided by the most powerful telescopes? 
Neither the eye, nor the imagination, can 
reach through the long vista of worlds on 
worlds, stretching away into the regions of 
immensity. A multitude of luminous spots 
are seen where no star is discernible by the 
best telescope, indicating the existence of 
other systems beyond the utmost reach of 
our knowledge. Dr. Herschel supposes the 
light of some of them may have been a 
million of years traveling to our earth. 
The nebulous, or luminous appearance 



OF WO It LD S . \6o 

which we behold, is doubtless the luster of 
those systems, beaming from their respective 
suns, and declaring them to be the abodes 
of life and animation. They generally ap- 
pear separated from each other by consider- 
able intervals, and some seem to be double 
and treble. 

" These numerous hosts of systems are 
probably connected with each other. While 
each moves round its own center, like a 
wheel within a wheel, they may have some 
greater center, and those systems which 
move round this, may be parts of another 
system, still more grand and overwhelming 
to our minds ; till by innumerable orbs they 
obtain a form which is the pattern of all 
forms, in which all the variegated siderial 
revolutions harmoniously concur to one and 
the same end, that of mutually strengthen- 
ing and establishing each other and exhibit- 
ing the infinite perfections of their glorious 
Author." 

It has been supposed that a hundred mill- 
ions of systems lie within the range of our 



1 64 A M U L T I T U 1) E 

telescopes. Beyond all these, who can tell 
how many thousand times this number are 
running their ample rounds in the regions 
of infinite space. " With each of these 
systems, it is probable that a hundred worlds 
are connected." To our system, more than 
a hundred globes of different sizes are at 
Cached, including the primary and secondary 
planets and the comets. " Every one of 
these worlds and systems, w 7 e have reason 
to believe, differs from another in its size, 
splendor, and internal arrangements ; in the 
peculiar beauties and sublimities with which 
it is adorned, and in the organization and 
capacities of the beings with which it is 
furnished." 

How T inadequate are our utmost concep- 
tions of the greatness and glory of the De- 
ity ! Who by searching can find out the 
Almighty unto perfection ? Who can com- 
prehend that Being who has filled immensi- 
ty with all it contains, and who sustains and 
governs every thing by his own Almighty 
energy. " The multitude of rational beings 



OF WORLDS. 165 

and other existences with which creation is 
replenished, is an idea which completely 
overpowers the human faculties, and is be- 
yond the power of arithmetical notation to 
express/' We involuntarily adopt the lan- 
guage of the Psalmist : " When I consider 
thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the 
moon and the stars, which thou hast ordain- 
ed ; what is man, that thou art mindful of 
him ? and the son of man, that thou visit- 
^est him ?" 

Do you begin to fear that amidst the 
greatness of the Creator's plan, the bound- 
less extent of his empire, and the infinity of 
his concerns, He will cease to care for you ? 
Do you apprehend He will not regard either 
your sins and follies, or your attempts to 
serve and please him ; that He is so great 
He will not concern himself with such di- 
minutive creatures as we are, and that we 
shall be overlooked and forgotten ? My 
friends, both scripture and facts show there 
never can be any foundation for such appre- 
hensions. Let it not for a moment lead 



166 A MULTITUDE 

you to sin with the hope of impunity, on 
the one hand ; nor to distrust the Divine 
protection in the way of well-doing, on the 
other. God is continually attending to the 
minutest interests of the most obscure indi- 
vidual and the youngest child of the human 
family. "Thus saith the high and lofty 
One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is 
holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, 
with him also that is of a contrite and hum- 
ble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, 
and to revive the heart of the contrite 
ones." 

That beautiful passage in the sixth chap- 
ter of Matthew teaches most affectingly with 
what particular care God provides for our 
wants. " Behold the fowls of the air; for 
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor 
gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father 
feedeth them. Are ye not much better," 
or according to the true meaning, of more 
importance., " than they ? Consider the lil- 
ies of the fields, how they grow ; they toil 
iiot, neither do they spin ; and yet I say 



OF WORLDS. 1 63 

unto you*, that even Solomon in all Iris glory 
was not arrayed like one of these. Where- 
fore, if God so clothe the grass of the field. 
which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into 
the oven, shall He not much more clothe 
vou. O ye of little faith? Therefore take 
no thought." or distress yourselves with no 
anxiety, " what shall we eat ? or, what shall 
we drink ? or, wherewithal shall we be 
clothed ? (For after all these things do the 
Gentiles seek ;) for your heavenly Father 
knoweth that ye have need of all these 
things. But seek first the kingdom of God 
and his righteousness ; and all these things 
shall be added unto you." There was not 
a child in Nineveh, when that city was 
threatened with destruction, but had been 
noticed by Him whose eye takes in the uni- 
verse at a glance. i: Should not I spare 
Nineveh, that great city, w r herein are more 
than three score thousand persons that can- 
not discern between their right hand and 
their left hand?" We need not fear that 
we shall be forgotten. 



168 MULTITUDE OF WORLDS. 

Look at facts, my friends. The micro- 
scope has discovered wonders as surprising 
in their minuteness, as the revolving systems 
are in their immensity. Myriads of anima- 
ted beings, too small to be seen by the na- 
ked eye, swarm around us continually, peo- 
pling every leaf and flower, and filling every 
drop of water with animal life. Yes, innu- 
merable multitudes of these animalculae 
swim in the waters, fly in the air and per- 
vade every department of nature. They 
float in particles of vapor and on the mote 
sailing in the atmosphere, and inhabit all 
the deep caverns of the ocean. All these 
derive their existence from God, are sustain- 
ed by his power and fed on his bounty. 
Surely, then, He will care for those w r hom 
He hath furnished w r ith intelligence and 
reason, and formed for immortality. Not 
one of them will be forgotten by Him who 
" telleth the number of the stars, who call- 
eth them all by their names." The Lord 
knoweth how to deliver them that are his, 
and to reserve the unjust unto the day of 
judgment to be punished. 



ItfNIPRESENCE OF GOD- i 69 



CHAPTER X. 



Omnipresence of God. 

The works of the Creator are not design- 
ed merely to excite our admiration and 
surprise. They discover and prove to us 
the divine perfections. It is my present 
purpose to show how the works of creation, 
at which we have been glancing, scattered 
through the universe, prove the omnipres- 
ence of God. They prove his omnipres- 
ence by the universality of his agency. He 
preserves all things in existence. The Cre- 
ator has not replenished the universe with 
worlds and systems, capable of existing, 
and performing all their operations, without 
his power. His energy is every moment 
needed to sustain in being every object, 
which he has created. It is said of Christ, 
that he created all things, and that by him 
15 



170 OMNIPRESENCE 

all things consist, or continue to have a be- 
ing. All the objects of creation were 
brought into existence by the Creator, and 
they can no more preserve themselves, than 
they could at first make themselves. The 
smallest particle which floats in the air, the 
earth on which we dwell, and the remotest 
star is sustained in being by the Divine 
power, and without this power would cease 
to exist. Let me illustrate this by a famil- 
iar example. You see a person blowing up 
bubbles. They are formed and disappear 
in quick succession. Suppose he had the 
power of continuing and multiplying them 
at his pleasure. While he holds them up 
by his hand, they are real existences, fragile 
indeed, but possessed of beautiful forms, 
and sometimes sparkling with different col- 
ors. Withdraw the hand which sustains 
them, and they vanish in a moment. Thus 
would it be with every created object, were 
God to withdraw from it his supporting 
power. It may seem to us too solid, of too 
firm a texture to vanish in this manner, and 



OF GOD. 171 

yet its existence is equally dependent as that 
of the bubble, and it would revert to its 
original nothing, as suddenly as the bubble 
bursts, did not God preserve it in being. 

Carry your thoughts abroad now over the 
works of creation, and see them scattered 
every where, through immensity. To all 
these God is present. Wherever a mote 
exists, wherever a sun darts his rays, wher- 
ever an insect wings its way, or a planet 
rolls in its orbit, God is present. Proofs of 
the Divine presence meet us, wherever we 
turn our eye. Look out of your window 
in a cold morning in the winter, and observe 
the thousands and millions of sprays of frost 
on a single light of glass. Multitudes of 
them are too small and delicate for the eye 
to behold without the help of the micro- 
scope. Every one of these indicates the 
presence of God and the operations of his 
power. Every part of infinite space is 
equally full of the works of God. Think 
of the rays of light, or that influence by 
which light is occasioned, passing through 



172 OMNIPRESENCE 

every part of the universe. How immense 
are the radiations of light incessantly emit- 
ted from the sun, which fall on our globe, 
"and by innumerable crossings and recross- 
ings from every object around, produce vis- 
ion to every beholder." How much more 
immense and inconceivable are the radia- 
tions emitted from all the suns in the uni- 
vere, crossing each other in all directions in 
every part of space, and continuing their 
rapid flight for thousands of years, until 
arrested in their progress by some distant 
world. To all these rays, God is every 
moment present. How surely then must 
he be omnipresent, or present in every 
place. 

The same truth is evinced by the Divine 
agency, exerted in carrying the laws of na- 
ture into execution. By the laws of nature 
I mean those which regulate the Divine 
government in all natural events, w T hich reg- 
ulate the various changes constantly taking 
place on the earth's surface, which regulate 
the growth and decay of every plant and 



O F G O D . 173 

tree, and every thing in the vegetable king- 
dom, and all the operations of animal life. 
Such are the laws of attraction and gravita- 
tion, by which all parts of the same system, 
and all the systems in the universe are 
bound together by a mutual influence. Ev- 
ery object, however minute, or however 
vast, attracts and is attracted. All worlds 
are made to assist in preserving each other 
in their respective stations, and moving each 
other forward in their immense orbits. The 
influence which they are constantly exerting 
upon each other is uniform and invariable, 
extending to every point in the universe. 
The laws of nature are every where operat- 
ing, and all their operations are carried on 
by the pow 7 er of God. A law of itself does 
nothing. It is only a mode by which an 
agent acts. Since the laws of nature are 
every where in operation, God is every 
where present. Every breath we inhale, 
the circulation of every drop of blood in 
our veins, and every action we perform, are 
incontrovertible proofs, that God is with us. 
! 5* 



174 OMNIPRESENCE 

He is present to every thought and emotion 
of our minds. He preserves us in the ex- 
ercise of reason, and keeps in motion all 
the springs of life. The omnipresence of 
God is often very beautifully and forcibly 
expressed by the sacred writers. " Whith- 
er shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall 
I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up 
into heaven, thou art there. If I make my 
bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I 
take the wings of the morning, and dwell 
in the uttermost part of the sea ; even there 
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand 
shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness 
shall cover me ; even the night shall be light 
about me, — the darkness and the light are 
both alike to thee. Thou compassest my 
path, and my lying down, and art acquaint- 
ed with all my ways. But will God dwell 
upon the earth ? Behold the heaven, and 
heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ! 
Thus saith the high and lofty One that in- 
habiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I 
dwell in the high and holy place, with him 
also that is of a contrite and humble spirit." 



o f a o i) . 175 

How great and incomprehensible is God ! 
His being and perfections are unlimited. 
He fills immensity with his presence. How 
are we lost in contemplating such a Being ! 
His omnipresence is as far beyond the grasp 
of finite minds, as the boundless extent of 
his dominions. Job, sensible of the limited 
extent of his views, exclaims, " Canst thou 
by searching find out God ? Canst thou 
find out the Almighty unto perfection ? It 
is high as heaven, what canst thou do ? 
deeper than hell, what canst thou know?'' 
But though we cannot comprehend either 
the purposes, perfections, or the nature of 
God, we may know enough of him to adore 
and love him. We may see an excellency 
in the Divine character, which immeasurably 
transcends all that we behold in created 
beings. In the moral attributes of God, in 
his truth, purity, justice, and benevolence, 
w r e discover the ,.um of all perfection. We 
behold in the Divine character, every thing 
which could adorn and exalt an intelligent 
being, and every bright and lovely attribute 
in an infinite degree. 



176 OMNIPRESENCE 

We might reasonably expect, that a rev- 
elation from the great and incomprehensible 
God would contain many things which we 
cannot fully understand. If he speaks of 
himself, of his purposes, or government, the 
subject must be involved in mystery. If he 
reveal his omnipresence, or any of his nat- 
ural or moral attributes, we may know 
enough of these for every practical purpose, 
but like an unbounded prospect fading in 
the distance from the ken of human vision, 
whatever Divine attribute we contemplate, 
it extends beyond the utmost reach of our 
limited minds. God has revealed himself 
to us in three persons, the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost. The doctrine of the Trinity 
is found in every part of the Bible. It is 
implied in the consultation respecting our 
first parents, " Let us make man," &c. 
Christ is called " Wonderful Counsellor, the 
Mighty God." The Psalmist says of him, 
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. 
In the New Testament he is styled, wi The 
true God and eternal life,"—" God mani- 



o? GOD, 17T 

fest in the flesh," — " God blessed forever." 
The Holy Ghost has personality ascribed to 
him, " When the Holy Ghost is come, He 
shall teach you all things. — The Holy Ghost 
said, separate me Barnabas and Paul." This 
doctrine of the Trinity has proved a stone 
of stumbling and rock of offence to many, 
because they cannot fully understand it. 
But can we understand fully the omnipres- 
ence or any of the perfections of God ? 
Can we understand the mode in which a 
disembodied spirit exists in any case ? How 
then can we expect to understand, how an 
infinite and eternal Spirit exists ? There may 
be a distinction in the Divine nature, above 
or beyond our comprehension, which renders 
it proper to speak of three persons in the 
Godhead, though there is but one God. 
Why then should we be offended with the 
doctrine of the Trinity? How much better 
does it become such short-sighted, imperfect 
beings as we are, to receive with implicit 
confidence what God has revealed respect- 
ing his own character ? 



178 OMNIPRESENCE 

The omnipresence of God may assist our 
conceptions in prayer. Some in this most 
devout and solemn exercise have endeavor- 
ed to fix their thoughts upon the Supreme 
Being, as seated on a material throne, and 
possessing the appearance of a man. Oth- 
ers have thought on Christ in the hour of 
his deepest sufferings, suspended on the 
cross, and breathing out his soul in agony 
in our behalf. Doubtless sincere and ac- 
ceptable prayer may be offered to the true 
God, while entertaining these views. But 
this desire of bringing before the mind some 
material object in the act of worship, has 
led others to more gross and fatal mistakes. 
They have set before them pictures and 
images of saints, as their intercessors with 
the Father, to which they have offered their 
supplications. This is idolatry, and God 
has denounced against those who practice 
it, his severe displeasure. He tells us, that 
" All idolaters shall have their part in the 
lake which burnetii with fire." Since God 
is a Spirit and omnipresent, we need not 



OF GOD. 179~ 

fancy to ourselves any particular form or 
shape when we worship him. We need 
not contemplate him as elevated high above 
us, for he is every where about us, and we 
" live in the all-enfolding circle of the Divine 
mind." We more naturally and properly 
look up to God in the heavens, but we 
must remember that every direction is 
equally upward, viewed in relation to infi- 
nite space. The diurnal revolution of the 
earth so changes our position, that the point 
directly over our heads at one time, is the 
point directly under our feet at another. 
That our conceptions may be just, we must 
think of God as every where present, and 
ready in every place to listen to the cries of 
his people. If our thoughts need to be 
concentrated, and our conceptions aided, 
it should be by fixing them upon the glori- 
fied personage of Christ, as God in human 
nature, as our great High Priest and Advo- 
cate with the Father. Through him all 
divine communications are made to men, 
and through him the glories and splendors 



1 80 O M N I P II E S F N C E 

of the Daily will beam forever with infinite 
luster upon an intelligent universe. Through 
him we are to send up all our praises and 
adorations to the Lord our God, and through 
him we are to plead for every blessing. 

How great is the folly and danger of those 
who neglect to love and serve the Lord 
their God. He is ever present with them, 
and knows how criminal is their ingratitude, 
how great is their sin. He is the source of 
every blessing, and yet they treat him with 
neglect and contempt. Without his agen- 
cy the eye which sparkles with beauty, 
would be for ever closed ; the cheek which 
glows with health, would be pale with 
death; the limbs which are active and vig- 
orous, would be cold and lifeless. What 
can exceed their folly and guilt, who are 
indifferent towards the God of their lives, 
who conduct as though there were no such 
Being on whom they are dependent, to 
whom they are indebted for every favor, 
and to whom they are bound by ten thou- 
sand obligations to render their supreme 



OF GOD. 181 

affection. Alas ! they know not what they 
do. They know not what a mighty power, 
from which there is no escape, they are ar- 
raying against them. They know not that 
the Being whom they are provoking by their 
sins, has the universe under his control, that 
he is the eternal enemy of sin, and that all 
who will not serve him must be crushed 
forever as rebels against his throne and gov- 
ernment. Better to have all creatures for 
your enemy than to have God for your ene- 
my. Better to have the displeasure of all 
your friends and acquaintance, and the rage 
and enmity of all the inhabitants of the 
earth turned against you in such a manner, 
that you could not meet a fellow mortal 
without meeting an inveterate foe, that you 
could not enter a human habitation without 
finding those who were watching to destroy 
you ; better to have the " millions of spirit- 
ual creatures who walk the earth unseen," 
and the lofty cherubim and seraphim with 
all their vast powers ; better to have all 
these and the whole universe, hostile to you, 
16 



1 82 OMNIPRESENCE 

than to have the displeasure of the great 
God burning against you. There would be 
a possibility of fleeing out of the presence 
and the hands of every other being, but 
there is no possibility of escaping from Je- 
hovah. Could you fly from world to world, 
and system to system, with the rapidity of 
light, yea, of thought, his mighty arm would 
arrest the fugitive, and you would find it a 
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God. Were you buried in the black- 
ness of darkness, his eye would light on 
you, and would dart anguish through your 
soul for having made such a Being your 
enemy. O how inconceivable their folly 
and danger who refuse their tribute of love 
and obedience to Jehovah. Continuing in 
their impenitence, suddenly will their de- 
struction come as a whirlwind ; they will be 
taken away with a stroke, and a great ran- 
som cannot deliver them. 

How painful will it be to dwell forever 
under the eye of that Being who has crush- 
ed you by his power, and who is intent on 



O F G O D . 183 

increasing your misery. He has told us, 
that he shall finally " Put all his enemies 
under his feet." He will confine them 
down in the prison of despair, but even 
there it would be some mitigation of their 
anguish to be out of the sight of their dread- 
ed enemy. How great an annoyance would 
the presence of a prince be to the base cul- 
prit who had committed treason against that 
prince. To be perpetually in the view of 
such a sovereign, and have his stern coun- 
tenance ever turned upon the offender, 
would be a source of indescribable wretch- 
edness. The countenance and the presence 
of God will never cease to blaze around the 
lost sinner. He will dwell forever in full 
view of the awful majesty of that Being 
against whom he has sinned, and be impel- 
led forever to feel more and more of the 
guilt and exceeding evil of offending such 
a God. 

Are there not some of you, my friends, 
who are unreconciled to God, and unaffect- 
ed with the considerations of his omnipres- 



184 OMNIPRESENCE 

ence. Remember that though you may 
now be indifferent, you must one day real- 
ize this great truth. Should you continue 
in your sins, you will find that the way of 
transgressors is hard, the Divine presence 
will afford you no support in your last mo- 
ments, but will be an occasion of terror to 
you, and when you shall see God as he is 
in a coming world, he will be to you a 
" consuming fire." There is no safety for 
the impenitent and unbelieving. They 
must submit to receive the mercy offered 
them through a crucified Redeemer, or be 
dashed in pieces by the rod of Divine pow- 
er. " He that believeth not is condemned 
already, because he hath not believed in the 
name of the only begotten Son of God. 
He that believeth on the Son hath everlast- 
ing life. He that believeth not the Son 
shall not see life, but the wrath of God 
abideth on him. Seek ye the Lord and ye 
shall live, lest he break out like fire in the 
house of Joseph and there be none to 
quench it in Bethel." 



OF GOD. 185 

How safe and happy are the righteous ! 
They are ever with God, and his banner 
over them is love. The light of his coun- 
tenance can cheer their darkest moments. 
They enjoy a calm resignation to his will ; 
a cheerful and hearty reliance on his provi- 
dence and his word. The friend of God 
can truly say, "I am continually with thee; 
thou wilt guide me by thy council, and af- 
terwards receive me to glory. Whom have 
I in heaven but Thee, and there is none 
upon earth that I desire besides Thee. My 
flesh and my heart fail, but Thou art the 
strength of my heart, and my portion for- 
ever." 

Does the Christian retire to hold com- 
munion with the Father of Spirits? In his 
retirement he finds a present God. He 
feels a sacred nearness to the chief object 
of his affection, and is satisfied, and ravish- 
ed with admiring and adoring views of the 
Divine character. 

Does the Christian see his earthly friends 
torn from him ? Is he called to weep over 
16* 



186 OMNIPRESENCE. 

a companion, a parent, a brother, a child ? 
He has a source of consolation still remain- 
ing. He has one friend who will never 
leave him. The Lord is his refuge and 
strength, a very present help in trouble. 
Whatever may be his outward circumstan- 
ces, he can rejoice in the Lord and joy in 
the God of his salvation. Behold the good 
man in the hour of sickness and death. 
He is not deserted in that gloomy season. 
He is shielded from the king of terrors, for 
he is surrounded by the presence of God. 
Even in the hour of dissolution, he knows 
that he is in the view and in the arms of 
that Parent who loves his children and will 
deliver them from every danger. He leaves 
the world, but he leaves not God. He 
sleeps in death and awakes to behold bright- 
er displays of the divine perfections than 
are ever seen in this imperfect state. How 
desirable is the end of the righteous. O ye 
who love the Lord, rejoice in hope, for your 
Redeemer liveth, and your redemption draw- 
eth nigh. 



OMNISCIENCE. 1 87 



CHAPTER XI. 



Onmiscience of GocL 

God is not only every where present. He 
is also omniscient. By his Omniscience, I 
mean that his knowledge is unbounded, that 
He is acquainted with every thing which 
now exists, or ever has been, or ever will 
be. He has his eye upon every inhabitant 
on either side of the globe, and knows the 
thoughts and feelings, the words and actions 
of each individual. He observes the growth 
of every leaf and flower, of every plant and 
tree in the vegetable kingdom, and notices 
every particle of vapor in the air and every 
drop of water which forms the ocean. His 
knowledge of every other planet is just as 
perfect as of that on which we dwell. He 
is intimately acquainted with all their move- 
ments throughout their vast orbits, and with 



1 88 UMN1SCI E N C £ 

whatever takes place on those spacious 
worlds. He knows how long they have 
been running their vast circuits, and when 
IC the heavens shall be rolled together as a 
scroll/" and all material systems shall cease 
to exist. This is implied in the omniscience 
of God. But how do we prove that He is 
omniscient? It has been already shown 
that He is omnipresent, and if He be omni- 
present, He knows all things. 

God is a Spirit, an intelligent Spirit, and 
wherever He is, He sees and understands 
all things, as though He were all eye and 
ear and mind. You know what is passing 
in your sight, but the sight of God is every 
where : you know what you hear, but the 
hearing of God is every where : you know 
what is now passing in your mind, the mind 
of God is every where, embracing the whole 
universe, and He knows perfectly every 
thing in it. Such knowledge results neces- 
sarily from the nature of his attributes and 
the manner of his existence. 

The omniscience of God is manifest in 



OF GOD 



189 



that He created all things. Before a per- 
son can form a complicated machine, so that 
all its parts shall be nicely fitted to each 
other, and to produce the desired effect, he 
must have a u clear and perfect view of the 
whole plan," and of every minute part. He 
must form the whole from the pattern 
which he had in his own mind, as Moses 
formed the ark from the pattern shown him 
in the mount. Since God created all things, 
He must have had them all in his infinite 
mind, and have determined their place and 
operations. As the person supposed has 
only to know his own mind in order to be 
acquainted with all parts of the machine, so 
God has only to look into his own mind to 
have a knowledge of the vast machine of 
the universe, the nature, design, and result 
of every part. This acquaintance with 
himself He must have, and consequently 
must be omniscient. 

Consider the universality of his govern- 
ment. The general harmony and regulari- 
ty, existing throughout the universe, show 



190 OMNISCIENCE 

that all events are under the control of in- 
telligence and wisdom. An intelligent be- 
ing might act in a blind, confused manner ; 
but where there is perfect harmony amidst 
the greatest variety, and uniform exactness 
in an infinity of events, they must have 
been known by their author. He must 
have seen them all at one view, that he 
might arrange and exhibit them in their or- 
der. Such harmony and uniformity we ob- 
serve in the works of the Creator, and they 
carry with them a convincing proof of his 
omniscience. We see causes wisely adapt- 
ed to their effects, and effects invariably 
following from their causes. The seasons 
move on in their order. " The sun ariseth 
and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his 
place where he arose.' 1 All the great move- 
ments of nature are regulated with a won- 
derful precision. 

If we descend to the smallest insect, we 
see it carefully supplied with food, and 
wisely adapted to the sphere in which it 
moves. None are neglected or forgotten. 



or god. 191 

All the different ranks of creatures, from 
those peopling the surface of a leaf to the 
cattle feeding on a thousand hills, are fed 
and sustained by the same infinite God. 
Rising through the scale of being to the 
highest seraphim in glory, we find, that all 
these wait upon God, that their wants are 
seen and satisfied by Him, and that they 
are preserved by his power. Nor can his 
knowledge be limited to their present cir- 
cumstances. He must know their future 
condition, that He may make provision for 
their coming wants. He must have clearly 
in his view the state of every creature down 
to the end of time, and must know what 
will be the allotments of those who are to 
exist during eternity, that beholding their 
necessities, provision maybe made for them, 
or that discovering their guilt, stores of 
vengeance may be prepared to give them a 
just recompense of reward. No regularity 
could prevail in the divine government, un- 
less God had a perfect knowledge of all the 
causes and effects which are ever to have 



1 92 OMNiSCIENCF, 

existence. They must be arranged and 
brought forward at the set time, and in their 
proper places, or harmony would be at an 
end. The order we every where behold 
teaches us, that the knowledge of the Su- 
preme is unlimited, that his eye runneth 
to and fro through all his works, and 
that He seeth the end from the beginning. 
Revelation has declared that his under- 
standing is infinite, and if his understand- 
ing be infinite, He must have a full and 
perfect knowledge of all things. Eternity 
must be open before Him, " Can any hide 
himself in secret places, that I shall not see 
him? saith the Lord." "Thine eyes are 
upon all the ways of the sons of men ; to 
give every one according to his ways, and 
according to the fruit of his doings." " The 
darkness and the light are both alike to 
Him. There is no darkness, nor shadow 
of death, where the workers of iniquity 
may hide themselves." 

Several truths of the greatest importance, 
my friends, follow from the omniscience of 



bf god'. 1 98 

God. Some of them I shall here notice. 
He sees all our virtuous deeds, and all our 
sins. He beholds the efforts of the most 
obscure christian to do good, to assist the 
needy, to enlighten the ignorant, to reclaim 
the vicious, and spread the religion of the 
gospel. ;; I know thy works," saith He, 
u and thy labor and thy patience, and how 
thou canst not bear them that are evil." 
He knows, too. every secret sin and every 
open transgression. Crimes may be perpe- 
trated so secretly, that their authors may 
escape the suspicion of men ; but they can- 
not escape the notice of God. O let this 
thought arise in all your minds, when you 
are tempted to sin. " Thou, God, seest 
me." 

He sees the proud, exulting in their own 
strength, and seeking the praise which is 
due to none but God. He is offended with 
their presumption, and his eyes are upon 
the haughty, to bring down their lofty looks 
and proud hearts. 

He sees those who pretend to love Him, 
17 



i 94 OMNISCIENCE 

while they do not give Him their affections. 
No mere profession of esteem, nor apparent 
zeal in his cause, can be of any avail, unless 
God be the highest and chief object of our 
delight and desire. God looketh on the 
heart, and cannot be deceived. 

He is intimately acquainted with the 
thoughts and designs of the wicked. Al- 
though they are often deceived with regard 
to themselves, having never discovered the 
plague of their own hearts, yet God sees 
their enmity against his law, his holy char- 
acter and perfect government, and how un- 
friendly they are to his obedient children. 
He knows that wicked men and unholy an- 
gels would rise against his authority, destroy 
Him and all who bear his image, and conse- 
qently all the happiness of the universe, 
did not restraining grace prevent them. He 
perceives the secret thought of the impeni- 
tent, when they say, " What is the Almigh- 
ty, that we should serve him ? and what 
profit should we have, if we pray unto 
Him ?" 



O F G O D . 1 95 

Jehovah clearly discerns his believing 
people, and carefully distinguishes them 
from all others. He beholds their overflow- 
ing gratitude for redeeming love, every tear 
of penitence they shed for sin, and every 
ardent wish of theirs to become more holy 
and live more to his glory. " The Lord 
knoweth them that are his. — The eyes of 
the Lord are upon the righteous, and his 
ears are open to their cry. To this man 
will I look, even to him that is poor and 
trembleth at my word." 

The great Omniscient this moment be- 
holds our pious friends who have gone be- 
fore us into eternity, together with the 
spirits of the just made perfect, and all the 
holy angels. Amidst the inconceivable 
number and variety of happy beings who 
surround the throne of God, and people all 
the realms of bliss, there is not one con- 
cealed from his eye. All their thoughts and 
affections are known to Him, and every de- 
gree of felicity they enjoy, flows from his 
inexhaustible fulness. 



196 



OMNISCIENCE 



The condition of all future generations is 
distinctly in the view of an omniscient God. 
He sees who will occupy our places, when 
we have gone to our fathers, what scenes 
will take place when our flesh shall moulder 
beneath tha clods of the valley, what tears 
will be shed over our graves, and what dear 
friend will first follow us into the eternal 
world. With Him the period is. as it were, 
now present, when our names shall be heard 
no more on earth, and the crumbling mon- 
ument shall cease to tell the stranger, where 
sleeps our dust. 

God now knows what new empires will 
be formed, down to the end of time, and 
what plagues will be inflicted to chastise 
men for their sins. The great deliverance 
of his Church is, at this moment, full before 
Him. He beholds the wilderness blossom- 
ing as the rose, Zion becoming the perfec- 
tion of beauty, temples of Jehovah rising in 
heathen lands, and all nations bowing in 
adoration and love before the throne of the 
once crucified, now exalted Redeemer. He 



o r a oi). 1 97 

has his eye upon the interesting, the amaz- 
ing scenes of the judgment day. He be- 
holds the dead arising— the nations gather- 
ing — the Judge descending — the wicked 
fleeing from his presence, and the righteous 
rejoicing to meet their God. He sees the 
assembly divided — earthly friends taking 
their final leave — sinners going down to hell 
and saints ascending to live in glory, the 
former past hope, and the latter past fear 
for ever. " O the depth of the riches both 
of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! 
How unsearchable are his judgments, and 
his ways past finding out." 

The omniscience of God should alarm 
the impenitent, and excite them immediate- 
ly to seek for mercy in Jesus Christ. It is 
not because they are viewed with complai- 
sancy, that they are not destroyed in their 
sins. God has seen all their provocations 
and great wickedness, but He is long suffer- 
ing and waits to be gracious. His patience 
and forbearance, however, with respect to 
17* 



1 98 o M Niscn: n c e , 

the delaying sinner, will ere long have an 
end. His judgment lingereth not, and un- 
less the sinner betakes himself to Jesus, he 
must soon find it a fearful thing to fall into 
the hands of the living God. 

How much occasion have christians for 
humility and holy joy ; humility on account 
of that exceeding unworthiness which om- 
niscience discovers in them, and joy that 
they are ever under the eye of their Father 
in heaven, to whom they may unbosom 
themselves with freedom and confidence. 
Well may they rejoice that God has seen all 
things from eternity, that He has arranged 
all which transpires throughout his vast do- 
minions in the best possible manner, and 
will make every event subservient to his 
own glory, and the highest good of the uni- 
verse. " The work of the Lord is perfect. ' T 
If you are his friends, well may you say,, 
" God is our refuge and strength, a very 
present help in trouble; therefore will we 
not fear, though the earth be removed, and 
though the mountains be carried into the 



() M X I P T E N C E • 199 

midst of the sea ; though the waters thereof 
roar and be troubled, though the mountains 
shake with the swelling thereof. O Lord 
of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in 
Thee." 



— ^2£>— 



CHAPTER XII. 



Omnipotence of Gcd. 

This attribute does not imply the power 
of performing impossibilities. It does not 
mean, that any being can cause two and 
two to make six. or a circle to make a 
square, or an object to exist and not exist 
at the same time. Every child knows that 
these things are contradictory and impossi- 
ble. Neither does omnipotence imply the 
power of doing any thing inconsistent with 
the perfection of the Divine character. 



200 M N I P O T £ N C E 

God cannot lie, and the reason is. it would 
be inconsistent with his perfect holiness and 
veracity. It is impossible for an omniscient 
being not to take notice of every thing, for 
it would involve an absurdity. 

Omnipotence is the power of doing all 
things possible. This is the power which 
God and He only possesses. " The power 
which originally gives existence can do any 
thing and every thing which in its own na- 
ture is capable of being done ; or in 
other words, every thing, the doing of which 
involves not a contradiction/' God created 
whatever exists, and his power must be un- 
limited. The universe He has made, and 
all the beings with which it is peopled, are 
sustained continually by his mighty arm. 
His hand rolls along the planets in their 
orbits. The millions of suns and systems 
scattered through immensity, are kept in their 
stations, or carried around in their vast cir- 
cuits, by his vast power. We need no 
other proof that God is omnipotent. The 
scriptures are explicit and impressive in as- 



OF GOD. 201 

cribing to Him this attribute. The Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth. Whatsoever the 
Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and 
in the earth, in the seas and all deep places. 
In thine hand is power and might ; and in 
thine hand it is to make great, and to give 
strength unto all. 

You see, my friends, the absolute sover- 
eignty of God. His government is univer- 
sal and constant, extending to all places and 
events. Not a sparrow nor a leaf falls, not 
an affliction is sent nor a favor bestowed, 
without his direction and agency. His sove- 
reignty is no less honorable and glorious to 
his character, than it is happy in relation to 
his creatures. It is not arbitrary and blind 
in its decisions, but is directed by infinite 
wisdom and benevolence. In the exercise 
of divine sovereignty, Joseph was sent into 
Egypt, the children of Israel were delivered 
from bondage, David was taken from the 
sheep-cote to be placed on a throne, and 
Paul was chosen to preach the gospel to the 
Gentiles. All events are under the divine 
control. 



'202 OMNIPOTENCE 

It is in vain to oppose God. He is able 
to destroy all his enemies. " Though hand 
join in hand, the wicked shall not prosper. " 
We easily crush the worm beneath our feet : 
with far greater ease can God destroy all 
who resist his authority. The angels who 
rebelled were cast down from their high 
abodes, and reserved in chains of darkness 
unto the judgment. Were all the angels of 
light and all the miserable spirits in despair 
to unite with wicked men on earth, and 
with the inhabitants of all worlds, to sub- 
vert the government of God^all their power 
would be nothing in comparison with Om- 
nipotence. They would be crushed before 
it as the moth. Yea, should God withdraw 
from them, for one moment, his preserving 
energy, their existence would terminate. 
How vain and criminal then must it be, my 
friends, to resist God by refusing a cordial 
surrender of yourselves to him, and a cheer- 
ful submission to his will. 

We must make Him the supreme object 
of our fear as well as love. He can inflict 



OF GOD. 203 

every evil and bestow every blessing. Ac- 
cordingly Christ says, " Be not afraid of 
them that kill the body, and after that have 
no more that they can do : but I will fore- 
warn you whom ye shall fear : fear Him, 
which after He hath killed, hath power to 
cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear 
Him. The fear of the Lord is the begin- 
ning of wisdom." Then only are we truly 
wise, when we are deterred from sin by the 
fear of the Almighty, and moved to duty 
and obedience by love to this great and 
amiable Being. 

God will execute all his threatenings, and 
fulfil all his promises. He has declared, 
that those who continue impenitent and un- 
believing, shall perish, shall go away into 
everlasting punishment ; and that the pen- 
itent believer shall be saved, shall enter into 
the joy of his Lord, shall inherit the king- 
dom prepared for all such before the foun- 
dation of the world. The power of God 
is adequate to fulfil all He hath spoken, and 
his purposes are immutable. Whatever He 



204 OMNIPOTENCE. 

has said respecting his conduct towards the 
righteous and the wicked in this life or in 
the life to come, we may be assured w r ill 
take place. Nothing can prevent Him from 
executing his benevolent designs towards 
the one, and rendering a just recompense 
of reward to the other. Be persuaded now, 
my friends, to submit to the terms of mer- 
cy offered you in Jesus Christ. " Kiss the 
Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from 
the way, when his wrath is kindled but a 
little." 



1 M M UTAB1LITY. 205 



CHAPTER XIIT. 



Immutability and Truth of God. 

The Bible teaches us that God is un- 
changeable. With Him there is no varia- 
bleness, nor shadow of turning. He is 
the same yesterday, to-day and for ever. 
And has He not made the visible creation 
bear testimony to the existence of this at- 
tribute ? Is there not every where an un- 
failing uniformity amidst the greatest varie- 
ty, an undeviating constancy amidst per- 
petual change ? As one observes, " The 
constancy of nature is taught by universal 
experience, and even strikes the popular 
eye as the most characteristic of those fea- 
tures which have been impressed upon her. 
It may need the aid of philosophy to learn 
how unvarying nature is in all her processes 
— how even her seeming anomalies can be 
18 



206 



IMMUTABILITY 



traced to a law that is inflexible — how what 
might at first appear to be the caprices of 
her waywardness, are, in fact, the evolu- 
tions of a mechanism that never changes — 
and that the more thoroughly she is sifted 
and put to the test by the interrogatories of 
the curious, the more certainly will they 
find that she walks by a rule which knows 
no abatement, and perseveres with obedient 
footsteps in that even course, from which 
the eye of the strictest scrutiny has never 
yet detected one hair-breadth deviation. It 
is no longer doubted by men of science, 
that every remaining semblance of irregu- 
larity in the universe is due, not to the 
fickleness of Nature, but to the ignorance 
of man — that her most hidden movements 
are conducted with a uniformity as rigorous 
as fate — that even the fitful agitations of 
the weather have their law and their princi- 
ple — -that the intensity of every breeze and 
the number of drops in every shower, and 
the formation of every cloud, and all the 
occurring alternations of storm and sun- 



Of GOD. *207 

shine, and the endless changes of tempera- 
ture. — follow each other by a method of 
succession; which, though greatly more in- 
tricate, is yet as absolute in itself as the or- 
der of the seasons, or the mathematical 
courses of astronomy. This is the impres- 
sion of every philosophical mind with regard 
to nature, and it is strengthened by each 
new accession that is made to science. 
The more we are acquainted with her. the 
more we are led to recognise her constancy ; 
and to view her as a mighty though compli- 
cated machine, all whose results are sure, 
and whose workings are invariable. " The 
immutability of God is stamped on all his 
works. He unfolds in them his true char- 
acter, and tells us how unvarying He is in 
his high and unsearchable purposes and 
perfections. He is continually spreading 
out signs of his immutability on the mighty 
canvass of nature, that the sight might af- 
fect our hearts, and lead us to confide in 
Him. 

The Truth ot God is implied in his im- 



208 IMMUTABILITY 

mutability, and confirmed by a similar pro- 
cess of reasoning. The devout Psalmist 
had observed with delight, how the opera- 
tions of the material world proved the di- 
vine veracity. " For ever, O Lord, thy 
word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness 
is unto all generations : Thou hast establish- 
ed the earth, and it abideth. They contin- 
ue this day according to thine ordinances : 
for all are thy servants." God had estab- 
lished the ordinances or laws of nature, and 
they continued : this showed that his word 
was settled for ever. In the constancy of 
nature, we behold the God of nature main- 
taining his " faithfulness and veracity." 

He is saying to you, my friends, in his 
works, as surely as you see the sun rise uni- 
formly in the morning and go down at night, 
as surely as you see fire burn, heavy bodies 
unsupported fall to the earth, and the ocean 
bear up the adventurous ship ; as surely as 
the spring returns with her wonted smiles, 
and summer glows again with its heat and 
brilliancy, and autumn puts on the same 



J D 

luxuriance as before, and meter, at it- sta- 
ted periods, revisits the world with his 

darkness and his storms, so surely shall you 
find my word true. Not one jet or tittle 

it shall fail. " He who so pointedly adheres 

very plan that he hath establish] ed in 
uon. will as pointedly adhere to every 
proclamation that he hath uttered m scrip- 
ture."' Whether we look to the terrible 
denunciations of Sinai, to the penalty ot 
the violated law. or to the mild offers ot 
mercy through a crucified Saviour, we shall 
find, that he who hath spoken is a God of 
truth. " I have spoken it. I will also bring 
it to pass ; I have purposed it. I will also 
: the Lord. 
And what, my friends, has God spoken : 
Does he not saj. Except ye be converted. 
and become as little children, ye shall not 
enter into the kingdom of heaven ? Doe- 
he not assert in explicit terms. Except a 
man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God : You may disregard th 
declaration- now. you may make light of 
L8* 



210 IMMUTABILITY. 

them if you will, but so surely as the sun 
shines, so surely as you breathe the vital 
air, you shall ere long find them a reality, 
an amazing reality. Your disbelief alters 
not your danger, while your heart is unre- 
newed and your life is unholy. Would your 
disbelief that fire will burn, prevent your 
experiencing its painful effects were you to 
thrust your hand into the flames ? Would 
your disbelief that you shall fall, prevent 
your falling, were you to leap from the top 
of yonder steeple ? Would your disbelief 
that the sun will rise to-morrow morning, 
prevent his again shedding his beams upon 
the earth ? Neither will your disbelief of a 
place of torment in a coming world, prevent 
your going there, unless you comply with 
the terms of the gospel. God has told you 
what you must do to obtain eternal life, and 
complying with his directions, you may ob- 
tain it, but refusing and continuing in your 
impenitence, you must as certainly perish 
without remedy, as there is veracity in Je- 
hovah, as certainly as he has written con- 



BENEVOLENCE. w 2 1 1 

stancy and sameness of result on all his 
works. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Benevolence and Justice of God. 

Our present happiness or misery, and our 
hopes and fears extending into eternity, are 
not suspended on an arbitrary power, nor 
on the will of a Creator who has no kind 
regard for his creatures. The scriptures as- 
sert that, God is love, or benevolence. It 
is his great desire and object to diffuse and 
increase happiness in a manner to secure 
the admiration and affection of intelligent 
creatures, and promote his own glory. He 
is not a malevolent Being, has not contrived 
and arranged all things to promote misery 
instead of happiness. This he might have 



% 1 *2 B E N E V 9 L E N C E 

clone. He might have formed the natural 
world and the planetary systems in such a 
manner, that every thing should annoy and 
disgust, should add to our inconvenience and 
misery. Had we seen all creatures exhibit- 
ing signs of suffering and desirous of end- 
ing a painful existence, we should have 
concluded, with certainty, that the Author 
of the system was malevolent. If w 7 e see 
the reverse of all this, and the universe 
adapted to enjoyment, we conclude with 
equal certainty, that the Creator is kind and 
benevolent, that He is good unto all, and 
his tender mercies are over all his works. 

Only a few of the innumerable ways in 
which the benevolence of God displays it- 
self, can now be mentioned. Contemplate, 
my friends, the admirable contrivance to 
usher in and close the day in the most 
pleasing manner, and without painful sensa- 
tions. The atmosphere is possessed of the 
power of refraction, so that the sun's rays 
falling upon the upper part of it, just before 
rising and after setting, might be turned 



O F G D . *2 1 3 

downward to us and form a faint light which 
gradually increases to perfect day, or fades 
away in the evening. Were it not for this, 
every morning would be a sudden and in- 
stantaneous transition from thick darkness 
to a blaze of light, paining and overpower- 
ing our organs of vision. Every night the 
transition would be equally sudden and dis- 
tressing from the brightest sunshine to the 
most profound darkness. The day too 
would have been no less inconvenient. Had 
the atmosphere no power of refraction, the 
sun could have yielded no light, except 
when the eyes were turned directly towards 
him. No object could have been seen in 
any other direction. i Even under his me- 
ridian splendor, the heavens would have 
appeared dark as night, and the stars would 
have been visible. By the refraction of 
light, the whole hemisphere is illuminated 
at once, and we are enabled to see in all 
directions. The day opens in the most 
pleasing manner, by the beautiful tints of 
light gradually purpling the east, and the 



214 



BENEVOLENCE 



"soft sun-beams," lingering in the twilight 
of evening, invite us to reflect on the good- 
ness of God.' What adorable benevolence 
is manifested throughout this whole ar- 
rangement, and how obviously was it de- 
signed by the Creator to secure the comfort 
and happiness of his creatures. 

Another proof of Divine benevolence is 
afforded in the Harvest Moon. Instead of 
rising about fifty minutes later every night 
through the year, ' there is a remarkable 
difference about the time of harvest, in 
places of considerable latitude. As if to 
benefit those engaged in gathering in the 
fruits of the earth and preparing for a dreary 
winter, at the time of full moon, it rises 
several nights together only about twenty 
minutes later on the one day, than on that 
immediately preceding.' Thus we are al- 
lowed a continual full moon for considera- 
ble length of time, at the very season when 
it is most needed. What an exhibition of 
gratuitous and unlooked-for benevolence do 
we here behold. Who can contemplate it 



OF GOD. -215 

without the conviction, that the Creator was 
ever watchful to improve every opportunity 
of conferring a favor. 

Look at the benevolence of God display- 
ed in watering the earth. "The economy 
of nature," in this respect, " is very beauti- 
ful. Vapors arise from the seas, pass in 
clouds over the lands, and then by their 
own weight descend upon the earth to re- 
fresh and fertilize it." The sun as he re- 
turns from the tropics to the equator, ap- 
pears to draw after him a vast body of 
clouds to screen those who live under his 
vertical rays from his searching influence. 
The equatorial and tropical regions are 
supplied with the copious and long contin- 
ued rains, so needful to preserve them from 
sterility and dearth under the intense heat 
to which they are exposed. Those who 
live in more temperate or colder regions 
have the rains and dews of heaven dealt 
out to them in proportion to their wants. 
Who has not been delighted on a summer's 
day to see with what seasonable care and 



216 BENEVOLENCE 

liberal hand, the great Parent of Nature 
poured down the reviving moisture upon 
the plains and mountains, the fields and 
forests, and upon all the earth. u O how 
good God is to make the grass grow," ex- 
claimed a little child, as he looked out from 
a sick bed upon the green fields of nature. 
The reflection was natural. The goodness 
of God was depicted in too vivid colors to 
escape the observation even of a little child. 
The Psalmist was filled with admiration in 
view of this expression of Divine benevo- 
lence, made alike in the vast solitudes of 
the wilderness and around all the abodes of 
civilized man. " Thou visitest the earth 
and waterest it ; thou greatly enrichest it 
with the river of God, which is full of wa- 
ter ; thou preparest them corn when thou 
hast provided for it. Thou waterest the 
ridges thereof abundantly ; thou settlest the 
furrows thereof; thou makest it soft with 
showers ; thou blessest the springing there- 
of. Thou crownest the year with thy good- 
ness, and thy paths drop fatness. They 



O F G O D . 217 

drop upon the pastures of the wilderness ; 
and the little hills rejoice on every side." 
All nature is here represented as filled with 
life and animation, and rejoicing in the be- 
nevolence of God. 

The lower orders of animals give proof 
of this Divine perfection. What means the 
satisfaction which they all manifest with 
their condition ? Why do they appear so 
delighted, so full of enjoyment? Why is 
life so pleasing to the myriads of happy 
beings which continually swarm around us? 
Is it not, that they may testify to the good- 
ness of the God who made them ? 

How affectingly is the divine benevolence 
displayed towards the human family, in im- 
parting that parental tenderness which 
watches over helpless infancy, and imparts 
cheerfulness to our early years ! How kind 
is that arrangement which makes happiness 
increase by the enjoyment which he re- 
ceives, who is engaged in its diffusion, and 
which deters us from injuring others by the 
pain attending the wish to do evil, and the 
19 



218 BENEVOLENCE 

deep remorse springing from its intentional 
infliction. God has so constituted us, that 
we instinctively hate and despise malevolence 
in ourselves and others. He has here shown 
his preference. He has expressed his choice, 
that his intelligent creatures should be good 
and kind, and has thus displayed the good- 
ness and benevolence of his own infinite 
character. 

The same trait in the divine mind is 
evinced in the almost continual delight 
which the senses, the understanding and 
affections are fitted to afford. They might 
have equally answered the purposes of our 
being, had the exercise of them been at- 
tended with unceasing pain. True, evils 
exist, the organs of sensation may become 
diseased and occasion suffering. But the 
suffering is incidental and not the main de- 
sign, and consequently proves nothing against 
the benevolence of the Creator. 

The goodness of God is most wonderful- 
ly expressed in bestowing blessings upon 
the unworthy and criminal, upon enemies 



O F G O D . 219 

to his holy character and government. 
" Herein is love," or its most extraordinary 
exhibition, " not that we loved God, but 
that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the 
propitiation for our sins. God commendeth 
his love toward us in that while we were 
yet sinners, Christ died for us." This is 
matchless love, unparalleled benevolence ! 
That the Creator should bear with the evil 
and unthankful for six thousand years, and 
continue unceasingly to do them good dur- 
ing all this long period, must for ever excite 
the admiration and praise of holy beings, 
and leave us, my friends, for ever without 
excuse if the goodness of God does not 
lead us to repentance. O it is here the 
guilt of sin appears immeasurably great, and 
will be found overwhelming and intolerable 
to those who are finally lost. They would 
not love the benevolent Saviour, would not 
yield their affections to that God who fol- 
lowed them continually with the most melt- 
ing expressions of kindness and mercy. 
They persisted in offending against a Bene- 



2*20 BENEVOLENCE 

factor whose very nature is love, and de- 
stroyed their own souls. 

The Justice of God is a branch of his 
benevolence. It is infinite goodness, pur- 
suing the highest happiness in a particular 
way, in punishing transgressions and re- 
warding rational beings according to their 
works. As God is benevolent, He must 
necessarily be just. Justice and judgement 
are the habitation of his throne, or the es- 
sential traits of his character, and the pillars 
of his government. Just and right is He. 
The Lord is righteous in all his ways. 

The Justice of God is seen in the arrange- 
ments of his Providence. He has connect- 
ed sin by an indissoluble tie w r ith misery, 
and made it certain, that the transgressor is 
doing himself an injury. Though he should 
meet with no outward calamity, and ven- 
geance should not pursue him in this life, 
yet do not anxiety and fear and remorse 
prey upon the wicked, disturb their repose, 
and often fill them with wretchedness ? 
Does not the inward shame and conscious 



of a o D . 221 

guilt which attend even the wish to injure 
others, tell us that the God who framed the 
constitution of the mind, is just ? 

What is the language of the grand course 
of events under his immediate control ? His 
justice, in the punishment of men for their 
sins, has not been confined to nations, it 
has descended to individuals in an alarming 
manner. The stars in their courses once 
fought against Sisera ; the sun and the moon 
have been arrested in their progress, that a 
more complete victory might be gained over 
the enemies of God ; the fountains of the 
great deep have been broken up, and the 
earth swept with a deluge for the wicked- 
ness of its inhabitants, as if to afford awful 
proofs to every succeeding age of the divine 
justice. Does the destruction of Pharaoh 
and his host, of Corah and his company, of 
Sodom and Gomorrah, of the ten tribes of 
Israel for their idolatry, and of Jerusalem 
for its sins, furnish no proof of the justice 
of God ? How many have had the curse 
of the Almighty lighting on them, destroy- 
19* 



222 BENEVOLENCE 

ing their substance, disconcerting their 
schemes, and crushing their hopes ; because 
of their sabbath-breaking, or profanity, or 
licentiousness, or some other form of sin. 
Verily, there is a God that judgeth in the 
earth, and the wicked cannot go unpunish- 
ed. They may flourish like the green bay 
tree for a time, may enjoy the smiles of 
prosperity and the honor which cometh 
from men ; but they soon lie down in sor- 
row, and meet the just recompense of reward 
in the retributions of a coming world. 

Justice is essential to the perfection of 
God's character as the moral governor of 
the universe. Disrobe him of this attribute, 
and would he not be unworthy of the con- 
fidence of his subjects, and an object of 
universal dread ? You may imagine, that 
the justice of God, displayed in inflicting 
the awful penalty of his law, renders him 
unlovely, and that he will never punish the 
wicked with everlasting destruction, accord- 
ing to his word. But does not the tender 
parent resort to punishment in the case of 



OF GOD. 2 h 23 

his offending child ? If the youth, after all 
means of reformation have been exhausted, 
continues obstinate, and becomes incorrigi- 
bly hardened in wickedness, does not the 
kindest affection of the parent for his family 
prompt him to disinherit the offender, and 
banish him from his house ? 

Does a magistrate cease to be amiable 
and lovely, because he punishes sedition, and 
employs the utmost rigor of the law against 
rebellion ? Do we look upon Washington 
as cruel and blood-thirsty, because he refus- 
ed to rescue Andre from the gibbet? Would 
it be a virtue in a ruler " to connive at offen- 
ces, overlook crime, and suffer the statutes 
to be broken with impunity ? No : we 
should charge him with weakness," or cor- 
ruption, and accuse him of betraying the 
interests of the country. How much more 
dreadful would similar conduct be in the 
Infinite Judge. It would spread disorder 
and misery throughout his vast dominions. 
The justice of God is not an undesirable, 
but a lovely and glorious attribute. i If 



224 BENEVOLENCE 

he offer his creatures life or death, and 
they choose the way of sin and draw down 
destruction on their own heads, is not the 
blame their own ? If he only execute the 
penalties of his law, of which he has given 
sufficient warning, can the sufferers com- 
plain ?' Every mouth will be shut, when 
the impenitently guilty shall go away into 
everlasting punishment. 

And now, my friends, let me entreat you 
to beware of supposing, that because God 
is benevolent there is no danger in sinning 
against him. His benevolence, or love, is 
indeed inexpressible, nor can w T e sufficiently 
admire and adore this trait in his character. 
But it is holy love, directly and infinitely 
opposed to all sin, and intimately blended 
with the exercise of justice and truth. Love 
does not divest the Supreme of his other 
attributes, nor render him the less an object 
of filial fear and devout reverence. It does 
not make the commission of sin the less 
hazardous, nor is it the less a fearful thing 
to fall unreconciled into the hands of the 



OF GOD. 225 

living God. He is amiable and lovely in the 
midst of terrible majesty, wise and benevo- 
lent even when he taketh vengeance. The 
same record which reveals his tender love, 
discloses also the only way in which its ben- 
efits can be savingly derived to the guilty. 
It teaches not to rely on his general benev- 
olence, but to make God a reconciled Fath- 
er and Friend by repentance and faith in 
the Lord Jesus. Neglecting this method of 
forgiveness, and flattering himself in his evil 
way from mistaken apprehensions of the 
divine benevolence, the sinner excludes 
himself from eternal life. His hope will be 
as the spider's web, when God taketh away 
the soul. 

We see the duty of immediately giving 
our hearts to God. He is infinitely glori- 
ous and excellent, worthy of the supreme 
and constant affection of every intelligent 
creature. The heavenly hosts who enjoy 
the clearest discoveries of his character, 
love him to the full extent of their exalted 
powers. He is ever displaying his adorable 



2*26 BENEVOLENCE 

goodness around you, so that every child 
may see it, and is holding out to you the 
melting expressions of his mercy and for- 
bearance in Christ Jesus. O my friends, if 
you still refuse to love him, you will be ex- 
ceedingly guilty and utterly without excuse. 
Think how blessed and happy it must be to 
enjoy the approbation of the great and be- 
nevolent Sovereign of the universe, who 
has the direction of every event and the 
government of all worlds in his hands. ' I 
love them/ saith he, ' that love me, and 
those that seek me early shall find me.' 

Set not your affections on the earth. You 
are a dying creature, and all the objects 
around you will be consumed in the fires of 
the final conflagration, when the heavens 
shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the 
elements shall melt with fervent heat. Then 
will 

" The great eternal scheme 
Involving all, and in a perfect whole 
Uniting " 

be cleared up to the view of mortals. To 



OF GOD. 227 

the immutable perfections of God, my 
friends, must you look as the source of all 
your felicity. With him for your portion 
and hope, you are safe and happy for ever, 
and without his favor and love you are for 
ever undone. 



THE END, 



J 



Wi»^W« 




